Laws of Nature
by musicnotes093
Summary: [Co-written with AlienGhostWizard14.] AU. Leo's life, for years, has been going well. Raised by his single mother, he's making definite strides towards the big world. However, everything takes a sharp turn when he accidentally gets involved with the bionic humans. Soon, he finds himself reeling from the effects of his decision—and fighting a battle that was never his to start with.
1. Chapter One

**Title:** _"_ _Laws of Nature"_

 **Rating:** T

 **Genre:** adventure, drama

 **Character(s):** Leo, Donald, Chase

 **Pairing(s):** Donald/Tasha, but only briefly

 **Summary:** AU. Leo's life, for years, has been going well. Raised by his single mother, he's making definite strides towards the big world with her and his best friends by his side. However, everything takes a sharp turn when he accidentally gets involved with the bionic humans while out one night. Soon, he finds himself reeling from the effects of his decision—and fighting a battle that was never his to start with.

 **AlienGhostWizard14's notes:** Hey to everyone reading this. musicnotes093 and I have been working on this for some time now so hopefully you'll all like it. Enjoy.

 **musicnotes093's notes:** What AGW said. *grins* Seriously, though, I'm always looking to expand my portfolio in writing, and a collab piece is one of those things I've always wanted to try. You know what I've learned? Collabs are fun, especially if you find a co-writer(s) who's great to bounce off ideas with!

There are a lot of things in store so I won't hold you up. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it!

* * *

 ** _Chapter One._**

 _No matter how hard she tried to focus on the letters and the words, nothing made sense to her. Tasha had been going over the menu for a while now, but she was finding it hard to concentrate. It wasn't the price of the food there, although that in itself was shocking. Her mind was just divided. She still hadn't made up her mind whether this date was something that she should enjoy or dread. Her date was very charming and pleasant. He was definitely good-looking. She just felt…guilty._

 _Maybe that was it. She wasn't enjoying the date because she was feeling guilty._

 _It had been more than a decade since she'd ventured for a relationship, but for some reason this act of going on a dinner with someone who she may come to like later seemed like a betrayal. Her son had assured her over and over again that she deserved to find a special someone if she was ready. He said that she deserved to be happy, and if his father was there he'd say the same thing, too. She had found comfort in that, and it was actually what pushed her to go this afternoon despite her hesitation._

 _However, the longer she sat there in that restaurant, the more she doubted the soundness of her decision._

 _"_ _Are you okay?" Her date, a man named Donald Davenport, smiled at her when she looked up._

 _"_ _Oh, um, yes. Yes, I'm okay," she said nervously. She forced a small smile on her face to show him that it was so._

 _"_ _Are you sure?" he asked. "Because if this place is making you uncomfortable, we can find somewhere else to go. I'll let you pick."_

 _"_ _No, no, it's—Believe me, we're fine right here," Tasha told him politely._

 _Donald nodded although he was not fully convinced. "Alright," he said. He sat up straighter. "You can order whatever you want. Don't look at the prices. I'd like to pay for our dinner tonight."_

 _Tasha smiled sincerely as his kindness slowly melted some of her anxieties away. "Thanks. That's really nice of you," she said._

 _"_ _You're very welcome. And I'm more than happy to do it. It's not every day I get to meet a person I've been talking to online and show off," Donald said with a grin._

 _Tasha laughed._

 _As her short burst of laughter subsided, the waiter came up to the table, ready to take their order. "Have you decided on what you would like yet?" he asked, having a bit of an Italian accent, which fit nicely in the Italian restaurant._

 _Donald looked at Tasha, seeing if she had made her decision. Putting her menu down, she smiled kindly up at the tall waiter. "I'll have the Baked Ziti, please." One of her favorite dishes, and fairly cheap compared to some of the other items on the menu._

 _The waiter turned his attention to the other person. "And for the gentleman?"_

 _Doing one last quick glance at the menu, Donald finally said, "I'll take the lasagna, if you don't mind." At the mention of lasagna, Tasha's smile faltered slightly._ Leo's favorite _, she thought._

 _Taking their menus, the waiter left the two alone again. A strained silence came over them, lasting only a bit until Donald spoke. "You know, I'm really glad you decided to come out tonight." Snapping Tasha out of her thoughts, he continued, not noticing her change in demeanor, "I honestly didn't even want to do this online dating thing. Only reason I did was because my...employee finally talked me into it. And I can't be happier I did." Tasha smiled, either not noticing Donald's slight pause or deciding it probably meant nothing. She felt a bit guilty, hearing this man talk about how excited he was about a simple date while she was having an internal debate on whether she should even be here or not._

 _Deciding to be half-honest with him, she said, "I'm glad I came too. I haven't been on a date in 10 years, actually, so I was nervous about tonight, but that nervousness is now gone since I'm here with you."_ Okay, make that a quarter-honest.

 _Donald smiled. "So, uh, tell me a little bit more about yourself," he prompted. "From your profile I know that you work at the news station, but you've never really said why you chose that career."_

 _"_ _It just came from a fascination I had when I was little," Tasha explained. "I always woke up to my dad watching the morning news, and – I don't know. I guess I just really liked what reporters do." She chuckled before adding, "Me and my sister would go into my mother's closet every weekend to borrow her blazers, and then we'd wear them and pretend we're doing a news report."_

 _"_ _That sounds fun," Donald said with a grin._

 _"_ _Yeah, until my mother caught us," Tasha said, laughing._

 _"_ _So you have a sister?"_

 _Tasha nodded. "Yeah. A younger one. Her name's Janice."_

 _"_ _Oh, okay. You mind if I ask how far apart in age you are?"_

 _"_ _Three years," Tasha said. "What about you? Do you have any siblings?"_

 _Donald steeled, but only for a moment. With a small smile, he said, "My family life's a little complicated."_

 _Tasha stared, panicked and unsure what to do after having struck a sensitive topic. "Oh. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't—"_

 _"_ _No, it's okay. Don't worry. You didn't do anything wrong," Donald assured her sincerely._

 _Tasha looked away in embarrassment; the date was only getting worse._

 _"_ _So, besides work, is there anything else you like to do?" Donald asked, reinitiating their conversation._

 _Though still reeling from her blunder, Tasha answered. "From time to time I go out to dinner with my friends. Sometimes I like going to the movies."_

 _"_ _Yeah?"_

 _"_ _Yeah. But to be honest, most of the time, when I'm not at work, I just stay at home. I have a thirteen year-old son, and he can be quite a handful."_

 _"Oh, yeah, I remember you mentioning something about a son in your profile. What's his name?"_

 _"Leo, after his grandfather." She smiled warmly, the thought of her son again giving her that pang of guilt. "I think you would really like him. He's always messing around with technology, taking it apart and seeing how it works." She let out a laugh. "I remember one time when he was seven and he messed around with the fuse box. I tell you, it's not every day you report the story of your own house getting set on fire."_

 _Donald let out a small grin. "Sounds like a curious kid you've got there."_

 _"Yeah but he is also brilliant. Only thing he has never gotten an A in is gym." Tasha's smile slowly became more and more strained. "Unfortunately, people don't care about brains at his age. Only thing they care about right now are the athletes. It can be hard for him at times. He doesn't have a lot of friends, so really it's mostly just me and him. I try to be there for him, but like I said, it's hard."_

 _Donald chuckled a bit, making Tasha look up, wondering what was so funny. "Sounds like me at his age. I was also the short, scrawny kid that no one liked. It was hard, I'll admit, but look where being the smart kid gets you." He reached across the table and grabbed her hand, causing her to flinch slightly at the sudden contact. "My parents weren't around often when I was a kid. I had to deal with all the teasing and punching all by myself. But, I can tell you will be there for Leo, no matter what." Hearing the billionaire's words, Tasha got a bit glassy eyed, touched by his words. Which made it all the more painful since she felt even more guilty not being with her son right now._

 _Seeing the look on her face, Donald decided to lean away so as not to make her any more uncomfortable. "If there's one thing you can do with your son, what would it be?" he asked. When Tasha looked at him, he added, "It could be anything. Could be expensive, cheap, whatever. What would it be?"_

 _Tasha thought about it for a while before she remembered a wish she'd had for a long time. "I want to take him to different countries," she said._

 _"_ _Different countries?" Donald repeated, both intrigued and impressed._

 _"_ _I know," Tasha said. "It sounds excessive but, I just want him to know that there's more to the world than he sees here. California's already filled with different types of people, but I want him to see and experience firsthand the different cultures and sceneries and food and languages out there. If I allow him to think that this city's as big as it gets, then his understanding will be limited."_

 _Then, she added a bit sadly, "I also don't want him to become like those children who talk down on him and hurt him because they don't understand him. It's important that he learns not to fear difference, because if he's not afraid of the fact that we're not all the same, then he can build good relationships with people. It'll make him a good person, and that's all a parent ever wants for their child. To be good and happy."_

 _Something in what she had said moved Donald into thinking. Though it was evident through his expression, Tasha didn't see it, because she was too preoccupied with her own thoughts. Donald was a lovely man, and she had yet to find any fault in him. Their short time together had only further proved that he was kind and generous. He was also very funny. What she liked the most about him was his ability to empathize with her son._

 _He was wonderful. He was perfect._

 _However, it came to her that cultivating a relationship at that moment was not the best step to take. Her and her son's lives were too unstable to introduce more instability to it. Pursuing whatever could be between her and Donald may provide her the company and help others say she needed, but what about her child? Being grafted into a stepfamily would not be easy for him. That would put more things on his plate, and – she couldn't do that to him._

 _Tasha took a deep breath, finding peace of mind as she reached a decision. She smiled, which didn't feel forced that time. "Donald?"_

 _"_ _I know," Donald said, reciprocating her smile. He understood and wasn't hurt. "You're not ready for a relationship right now."_

 _"_ _I'm sorry."_

 _Donald shook his head. "Don't be. You want to do what's best for your kid. Who am I to tell you not to?" he said._ I would do the same thing for mine, _he thought but didn't say. He sat up. "Can we still have dinner together, though? As friends?" he asked._

 _Tasha nodded, chuckling. "Of course," she said._

 _With the burden of guilt off her shoulders, she was actually able to enjoy that afternoon._

 ** _. . ._**

 _Donald came home that evening, his mind heavy with what his date, Tasha, had said._ _He couldn't say he wasn't disappointed in what happened tonight. Ever since he adopted Adam, Bree, and Chase, he hadn't had much time for dating. Having three genetically engineered bionic superhumans kept him pretty busy at times. This was actually his first date in over 16 years, and he had been so excited. So it was a bit painful when Tasha admitted she wasn't actually ready for a relationship. Donald understood, of course, but it still was sad to think about._

 _So, instead he thought about what she said. About how all she wanted was the best for her kid. How she wanted him to embrace difference instead of being afraid of it._

It's important that he learns not to fear difference, because if he's not afraid of the fact that we're not all the same, then he can build good relationships with people. It'll make him a good person, and that's all a parent ever wants for their child. To be good and happy.

 _He knew that his kids were the most different people on the planet. And, so that they would be safe, he hid them away, training them for when they were ready to go into the outside world._

 _But maybe he had been going about this all wrong. If there was one thing he learned tonight, it was that keeping his kids hidden might actually be hurting them more than helping them._

If I allow him to think that this city's as big as it gets, then his understanding will be limited.

 _No matter how egotistical Donald may seem, he truly only wanted the best for his kids. And maybe it was time to try something better._

 _As the elevator opened to reveal the lab, he chuckled at what he saw. Chase was running after Adam, who was laughing like a madman, holding Chase's laptop in his hands. Bree was off to the side, taping the whole thing with a camera Donald gave her._

 _His chuckling alerted the siblings of their father's presence, causing them all to freeze in place. Instead of the angered look they were expecting, Donald just smiled a small smile._

 _"_ _Hey, Mr. Davenport," Bree greeted cautiously. "Back so soon?"_

 _"_ _Yeah. I thought you'd be out late?" Adam added, discreetly hiding the laptop behind him. "Did the date go well?"_

 _"_ _Of course it went well. I helped him set up his profile. Everything was perfect," Bree told her brother._

 _"_ _Correction:_ we _helped him set up his profile," Chase pointed out. "It was a group effort. We all wanted him to go on a date, remember?"_

 _Bree only crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. Meanwhile, Adam eagerly asked, "So, how was it?"_

 _Donald decided not to acknowledge the question for the time being. Instead, with his new decision in mind, he said, "Guys, I think it's time for some changes around here."_

* * *

 _to be continued._


	2. Chapter Two

_Thank you for the review, EmeraldTulip! Thanks to those who are following this story, too._

* * *

 ** _Chapter Two._**

Leo was not having a good day.

First, he got shoved in his locker by the school bully, Tony Woodward. Then, because he had to wait for the janitor to come let him out, he was late for Calculus and got a detention, making him late for Robotics Club.

 _Leo came sprinting into the room, panting since he had to run all across campus to get there. As he wheezed, an auburn haired girl came up to him, getting him a chair. "Geez Leo, you okay? You look like you just ran a marathon."_

 _Holding a hand up, indicating to give him a second, he wheezed out a few more breaths before finally getting his bearings back. "Yeah, yeah, I'm...fine, Natalie. Just...came from...detention," he said between pants._

 _"Wow, what did the Boy Genius do this time?" asked the only other kid in the room, a tall boy with blond hair._

 _Finally catching his breath, Leo managed to say, "I didn't do anything. Tony shoved me in my locker and made me late for Mr. East's class, so of course I got a detention."_

 _His two best friends gave him a look of sympathy. "Ooh, sorry, bud. But you know what they say: you mess with East, everything's going to go south."_

 _Giving his friend a death glare, Leo declared sarcastically, "Noted."_

 _Natalie suddenly smiled, remembering something. "Hey, but good news: we are almost done with the EMP gun!" the senior declared happily._

 _No longer downcast, Leo got up from the chair and headed to the table in the middle in the room, an excited look on his face. "Really! Oh man, this is so awesome!" He looked down at the piece of technology they had spent a good month working on. Simple in design, it was shaped like a pistol, though slightly larger. The only difference was the two large tubes connected from the back to the middle. Also, the top was a good two inches longer in diameter, with the middle having a dull, orange orb, connected by a series of wires._

 _"Yep. All we need now is a decent regulator so it won't short out after the first shot," the tall boy, Xavier, said._

 _"Cool, so where are we going to get the regulator?" Leo asked, still pumped up._

 _"Correction: where are_ you _going to get the regulator," Natalie said, a guilty smile on her face._

 _The energy now drained from his system in that one sentence, he gave them his best deadpan expression. "What?"_

 _"There's a junkyard downtown that should have something that could work, or at least have the right parts for us to build a working one. The guy working the morning shift isn't very friendly to teenagers, so you'll have to come after hours when Uncle Clive is there. He comes in at 9, but just to be safe you should probably come at 9:30," Natalie said._

 _"Okay, but why am I the only one doing this?"_

 _The cousins sighing, they gave Leo a guilty look. "Sorry, man, but tonight we have a big family dinner to go to, and our parents said that if we skip out on it, we are going to be grounded for a month since our grandparents are flying down," Xavier explained._

 _"So? Why can't we all just go tomorrow?"_

 _"Leo, come on! You know we need to finish this thing by tomorrow if our prank is going to work!" Natalie exclaimed. Leo sighed, knowing she was right. The only reason they were making this gun was so that they could win the senior prank war. Every year, all the seniors would pull extreme pranks on each other for one week, kind of like a final farewell before graduation. There were really no winners, but it was too good for the trio to resist._

 _To further encourage him, Natalie added, "The class picnic is this weekend. Everyone will be there, and it's gonna be the perfect opportunity to put our plan into action. Don't you want to see how teenagers will react to their phones shorting out and being forced to actually interact with other human beings for once?"_

 _Leo crossed his arms. "I don't know. This doesn't sound morally right to me anymore for some reason," he sulked, half-seriously, half-jokingly. "I mean, what if we end up destroying people's phones permanently? That doesn't sound right."_

 _Natalie grinned. "Oh, please. Spare me the drama, Boy Genius. You know good and well how this invention works," she told the co-creator of the gadget on the table. When he looked at her, she pressed, "That's why we need that regulator, right? We can turn the level down a few notches with it, too, so we don't end up having to answer to angry parents."_

 _Leo only looked away, still unhappy._

 _"How about I cut you a deal?" Xavier offered. "You get us that regulator tonight, and a few guys from the track team and I will remind Tony about not messing with you again."_

 _Leo sighed. "You guys don't have to protect me, you know," he said._

 _"Yes, we do. We can't let jerks like Tony think that they can get away with stupidity. And Principal Raydor asked us to say something if we see something," Natalie pointed out firmly._

 _"Tell 'im, Ms. Student Council Member," Xavier joked, grinning._

 _Natalie narrowed her eyes at her cousin. "Can you not?" she said. Her expression softening as she turned her attention back to Leo, she said, "Plus, how do you think your mom would feel if she found out you're getting bullied again, and no one did anything about it?"_

 _"Natalie's right," Xavier said. "This is not Mission Creek High. No one gets away with anything here. It's been that way since freshmen year, and it's gonna stay that way 'til our last day here."_

 _Leo thought about it for a moment before surrendering. He uncrossed his arms. "Fine."_

 _"And hey, even if you don't get the regulator, the guys and I still need to talk to Tony," Xavier said. He scoffed. "He got some nerve acting all big when he messed up on that last game."_

 _Natalie hummed in agreement._

 _Leo looked at the EMP gun thoughtfully for a moment. He still didn't like it that he had to go out so late tonight by himself just to find that last piece for their invention. With all the scholarship documents he had to complete, he'd really rather stay home. However, the three of them had been planning this prank for months. Surely one night out wouldn't hurt._

He glanced at the invention sitting on the passenger's seat. He and Natalie had won awards before for their inventions, and that should be enough guarantee that this gadget would function perfectly. However, he felt a little uneasy about it for some reason. _I hope this works,_ he thought.

As he turned on the ignition on his car, his phone rang. _Road Runner + WCW,_ the screen read. "Hey, I'm about to leave my house. I'm on my way to the junkyard now," he said after picking up.

 _"Okay, great!"_ Natalie chirped. _"You've got the address, right?"_

"Yeah. 7862 Prescott Ave.," Leo said.

 _"You know how to get there?"_

"I think so. It's in the corner, right? Intersection of Prescott and Maple?"

 _"Yep. That's the one."_

Leo frowned. "Xavier, are you sure this is the address? It doesn't seem right. The GPS says it's a city over."

 _"Yep. That's the address I got online,"_ Xavier said.

Though still not completely sold, he said, "Alright." He smirked. "How's the family dinner going?"

 _"Well, Natalie's hiding out on the roof, and I just volunteered to get a bag of ice from the store even if our fridge has an ice maker,"_ Xavier said.

Leo grinned. "Is it that bad?"

 _"Our family's crazy,"_ Natalie said.

"That's not true. I met your folks. They're nice," Leo said.

 _"No, the grown-ups are completely normal. It's our cousins that drive us crazy,"_ Natalie said.

"Oh, alright." Leo stepped down on the brake pedal before pulling the gear shift into drive. "I gotta go, guys. I told my mom I'd only be out for a bit."

 _"Okay. Tell your mom we said hi."_

"Will do. Talk to you guys later." Leo hung up. Then, pulling up the GPS again, he pulled off from their driveway.

As he drove towards his destination, it occurred to him that despite the few bad days and even weeks he had gone through, high school had been a blast. It didn't start off like that in the beginning since Mission Creek High School was not kind to thirteen year-old freshmen. However, after his mother made some adjustments when she found out that he was being mistreated, it got better. He didn't really know what happened in that date she went to that night three years ago, but whatever took place triggered a reaction. Within a few days after, his mother told him of her desire to move to another city where they could start again. She said it would be closer to where she worked, and there was an outstanding high school there that he could transfer to.

He wasn't against it and had supported her decision since the prospect of a new beginning seemed to make her very happy. Two and a half months later, with all their possessions loaded up in a truck, they moved.

It had been one of the best things that had ever happened to them.

Walton Bay was a lively little city with (mostly) friendly people. It wasn't as hectic as Mission Creek, whose close proximity to the Silicon Valley caused it to always move on a fast-paced schedule, but it wasn't as sluggish and nearly empty as Midtown either. It didn't take long until he and his mother had neighborhood friends there. However, what had got to be the biggest surprise was Northside High School. The students were encouraged to embrace different interests, and because of that the common high school hierarchy wasn't so defined. The staff was on alert when it came to student behavior and was always willing to maintain peaceful relationships with and among the children and with their parents.

It was so weird.

But then, he began blending in, and it wasn't so strange anymore. He even found himself signing up for the Robotics Club, where he eventually met Natalie and soon after, her cousin Xavier. They had been inseparable ever since.

It was odd to think that years had already gone by, and he was only a few weeks away from graduation and only two months away from moving to Los Angeles where he would be attending college. It would be another start, but on his own this time. Honestly, it scared him, but his mother told him that he would be okay. Natalie and Xavier would be going to nearby universities there, so it wouldn't be so unfamiliar.

Leo knew, though, that most of the anxiety he was feeling was because of his mother. He didn't want to leave her by herself. All these years, she had raised him alone, and if he left who would look after her? She had assured him that she would be okay. Though their family lived far, they had good, reliable friends there with her. Still, he couldn't help but feel uneasy, and maybe even somewhat guilty.

 _"Police are still searching for the four bionic superhumans seen in the video posted just yesterday,"_ a reporter announced on the radio when he turned it on in hopes of taking his mind off his worries. _"A source tells us that they are students in Mission Creek High School. The authorities suspect that—"_

"Okay, not that," Leo muttered absently as he switched to another station. Once he reached one that played a familiar upbeat song, he smiled then turned up the volume.

Twenty minutes later, he was turning towards Prescott Avenue upon the GPS' directive.

He had expected the street to be somewhat empty since it was an industrial area, but he didn't know it would be _that_ empty. The three blocks leading to his destination looked like a ghost town. The unsettling feeling only worsened once he had arrived at the destination. He checked the address given to him and compared it to the one painted carelessly on the entrance. Exact match. "You guys owe me big time," Leo muttered as he thought about Xavier and Natalie.

Parking the car across the street from the junkyard, right in front of a worn out looking warehouse, he picked up the EMP gun and made sure to lock the doors. Not that he had anything valuable in there, but he would prefer not having to call his mom at 10 at night to pick him up from what seemed like the beginning of a horror movie.

Walking up to the gate, Leo saw a security guard leaning against a pole that held a sign above. Since it was so dark, Leo just assumed it said _Jim's Junkyard_ , the place where Natalie's uncle worked as a night guard. The man by the pole was completely bald, the only hair showing being the unruly beard on his face. He wasn't paying attention to his surroundings since he was looking down at his phone and smoking a cigarette. "Why doesn't this make me feel any better?" Leo muttered under his breath.

Approaching the inattentive man, Leo tried to get his attention. "Hey," he said. The guard didn't seem to hear. Trying again, Leo said a bit louder, "Hey." Again, the man just smoked his cigarette and stared at whatever was on his phone's screen. Growing impatient, Leo tried one last time, yelling, "Hey!"

This seemed to scare the middle-aged man, who quickly threw away his cigarette and hid his phone behind his back, obviously thinking Leo was someone else. But seeing it was just a sixteen-year-old boy, he sighed in relief and annoyance, grabbing another cigarette from his pocket. "Trying to give a guy a heart attack, kid? What are you doing out here at this time anyways?"

 _If you were doing your job, you wouldn't have had to worry about someone coming up to you,_ Leo thought. Instead he said, "I'm here to find some spare parts. You're Natalie's uncle, right?"

The man looked up momentarily from his phone to give him a confused look. "Who?"

Leo was now the one confused. Natalie said her uncle worked the night shift at the junkyard. "Natalie. Natalie Jones. Ring a bell?"

"Sorry, kid, you got the wrong guy. Now, you got to go; people aren't allowed in the scrapyard after hours. Besides, this part of town isn't exactly safe, and you don't seem like the type of guy that could hold his own against a mugger," the man said, taking another puff of smoke.

Leo decided to ignore that insult in favor of a more serious matter. "Wait, isn't this Jim's Junkyard?"

Taking another annoyed sigh, the man said, "No, this isn't. Jim's is on the other side of town. Now I'll say it one more time: leave before I call the cops." With that said, the man continued to stare down at his phone.

Leo decided it probably wasn't worth the brain cells to continue his conversation with the cranky guard. So instead, he walked back to his car and then unlocked it, mad at his best friend for putting him in the worst part out of town for nothing. On top of that, the ride uptown alone to the right junkyard would take an hour, and he promised his mom he would be home before midnight.

Pulling out his phone while getting in, he called Xavier, planning to give him a piece of his mind. Waiting a few seconds, the track star picked up. _"Hey, Leo, you get the part?"_

"No I didn't, and you want to know why? You gave me the wrong directions! Not only that, as it turns out, the correct junkyard is uptown, a full hour away, and I won't have time to make it there without getting grounded. So now we don't have a regulator." Turning the key in the ignition, he found that his car wouldn't start. Trying a few more times, Leo sighed. "And apparently, my car's battery is dead."

Hearing what sounded like a wince on the other end, Xavier started talking. _"Man, I'm sorry, dude. I know how much we needed this. Don't worry, though. We've still got two days before the picnic. I'm sure you and Natalie could make something in time."_

"I know, but it would have been so much easier—" Leo stopped, hearing the sound of an explosion behind him. Turning around in his seat, he looked at the warehouse he was parked in front of. He got out of his car, the EMP gun and phone still on his person.

 _"Dude, what was that?!"_ Xavier yelled over the phone.

"I have no idea," Leo said. Walking a bit closer, he could hear what sounded like a fight coming from inside, and a brutal one at that. "I think someone's in trouble."

Hearing the tone in his best friend's voice, Xavier said, _"Leo, don't think about it. Just all the cops and..."_

Instead of listening to what his friend was saying, Leo said, "I got to go," before heading to the door in front of the warehouse.

* * *

 _to be continued._


	3. Chapter Three

_Thank you to LRW and EmeraldTulip for the reviews!_

* * *

 ** _Chapter Three._**

His confidence in his decision to investigate what was happening diminished significantly with each step he took. A nagging feeling in the back of his mind told him that this was not a place he should be in. The hall leading into the entrance warned him strongly of this. It was poorly lit at best, and with the numerous industrial articles blocking much of the path, a quick escape was evidently not a commodity one could have if it was needed. The air was thick with tension, and the walls reverberated with agitation.

Then again, that agitation may have just been coming from him. His heart was pounding so madly that it was causing his mind to distort everything around him.

He ducked instinctively when a loud bang went off. He was positive it was caused by something, or maybe even someone, slamming against the wall to his right. "Adam!" he heard a girl's muffled yell coming from the other side. _Man, you need to get out of here,_ he told himself as he stared in fear.

However, looking ahead, he saw that the entrance was not that far away. He might as well continue. Plus, he was already in there. Someone evidently needed help. Though Xavier's probably already called the police, it would take them minutes to arrive.

He took a deep breath, and then decided to discreetly head on over to the mass of barrels sitting close to the entrance.

After making sure that he was out of sight, he tried his best to stay still. His nerves were live wires, and the last thing he wanted was to be so clumsy that he gets himself in trouble, too. Once he was set, he slowly and very carefully peeked out from his hiding place to scope out the area, clutching the invention he forgot he had brought in as if it was his lifeline.

There was a tall man in dark clothing inside the room, and it was evident he only meant harm. There was a mad look in his eyes, and he seemed very pleased to see his victims fallen. The girl beside him was no different. In fact, their expressions were identical, only that there was an added air of arrogance in the way she looked down on their preys.

Leo turned his attention next towards the objects of their hatred to see what it was about them that brought out the sick sense of triumph from the two.

He withdrew quickly to the safety of the barrel he was leaning against when he saw the girl and one of the boys. He recognized them. He knew who they were. They had been on the news since yesterday. What were their names again? He knew the last name was Davenport because they were identified as the children of the tech titan Donald Davenport. _Bea? Bria…Bree! Bree. Her name is Bree, and her brother… Her brother's name is Chase, like the bank._

Yes. That was it. Bree and Chase Davenport. Teenage bionic superhumans.

His jaws locked when he realized what he had gotten himself into. _Why do you have to be so stubborn!,_ he chided himself mentally.

The dark-clothed man started to laugh at the two bionics struggling to get away. He lifted up his arm and created... _A fireball! This guy is making fire with his bare hands! Okay, that's it, I'm out,_ Leo thought as he began to get up from his hiding spot.

That was until he heard a barbaric scream from the other side of the room. Turning, he saw the other bionic teenager – Allen...no, Adam – getting up from his spot on the ground next to two other people. One was a blond-haired kid, probably the youngest person in the room, who seemed to be unconscious. The other was a man who was trying to hold on to the boy, but even from a distance, Leo could tell he was barely holding on to consciousness and was using all his strength to stay awake.

Adam tried to rush to the madman, but that only made their enemy's evil smirk grow. Right before the teenager could touch him, he vanished, reappearing right behind him. Adam, confused, looked around. Hearing a low chuckle from behind him, he saw the man throw his fist at his face, causing him to fall back in a daze right beside his siblings.

"Adam!" Bree cried, rushing over to her brother.

Leo, seeing his opportunity, started to silently slink back into the hallway. It had been minutes since he spoke with Xavier, so the cops should be almost there. Then, they would take down this madman and his sidekick and help the three teens. Right?

Adam, finally coming out of his daze, looked up, staring intensely at the girl in black. Then, instead of a sarcastic remark or confident phrase, he said, "Okay, I'm sorry to say this, but I don't think we can date after all!"

Everyone in the room looked at the eldest bionic for a moment before the sidekick made her move. In an instant, she summoned what looked like a cage made out of electricity, detaining the three bionic superhumans.

The man chuckled, patting the girl on the shoulder. "Very good, S-1. Very good indeed," he said, looking over the three. Leo now saw the right side of his face and was creeped out by seeing a bunch of wiring and circuits melded with his skin. The man went over to the corner, picked up the unconscious blond-haired boy, and threw him in the cage, much to the protest of the man left behind.

It was starting to become too much for Leo to bear. Looking behind him though, he saw he only had a few more steps 'til he reached freedom. He could make his escape, run away before anyone knew he was there. It wasn't his problem anyway.

But all those thoughts vanished when he looked back at the scene in the room. The three imprisoned teens looked scared of the man looming over them. They looked absolutely helpless, like they knew that that was going to be the end for them.

That thought made Leo stop completely. This was probably going to be their last moments alive. No one was around to save them. The police weren't there yet, and when they do arrive, those three would be dead and that psychopath would probably be long gone. The only one who could help them at that moment was him.

Looking down at his hand, he eyed the EMP gun. Leo guessed that the only way that man was using those powers was with bionics, too. Which meant a blast from the gun would shut him down, if only for a moment. Reaching a decision, he headed back to his spot behind the barrels where he would have a better visual.

The man continued to laugh evilly. "Finally. Finally I have all four of you where I want you." The siblings started to huddle around each other, trying to protect one another. "All of you in one place, where I can finally destroy you." Leo got the gun positioned, ready to take his shot. "Where you will die knowing that soon, the world will be mine." The man started to build up a ball of lightning in his hands while the teenagers looked at him in defiance. "Any last words?"

"Yeah," Leo muttered under his breath. "See you later, Terminator." And he took his shot.

An invisible wave went off after the device emitted a muted electrical sound. The only telling sign that it had worked was the effect it had on the two people standing in its path. Though not the intended target, the girl called S-1 yelped in pain then collapsed to the floor after she was hit. On the other hand, the man also screamed in pain and fell to the floor, but his agony seemed to be twice as much compared to the other because of the wires sparking on his face as it shorted out.

Leo retreated back behind the barrels, unable to watch. The man may have been a bad guy, but he couldn't bear to watch him in torture.

After a moment had passed and when the room was silent, he peered out again from behind his hiding place to see what was happening. Because the girl in black was knocked unconscious, the electric cage was deactivated, and that freed the four teenagers. The oldest three, however, looked shocked and very lost. They searched around for an answer as they wondered what just took place and what had caused the sudden downfall of their enemies.

"Okay…?" Adam said as he stared at the two unmoving figures on the floor.

"What happened?" asked someone from inside the room who Leo couldn't see.

Chase shook his head. "I don't know. We didn't—"

The three of them – and even Leo – were startled when the man suddenly moved. With an angry grunt, he stirred and then struggled to get up. Despite being heavily weighed down by the pain that came from the blast, he rose to his feet.

Leo couldn't move. Shock only allowed him to watch.

The man in the black attire seethed as he looked around. He wasn't interested in the people in front of him anymore. Instead, he wanted to find the one who caused his humiliation and the destruction of his plan.

A pure, frigid sense of fear exploded inside Leo's chest when, in a matter of a few seconds, the man found him and was staring straight at him.

Losing grip of the EMP gun, Leo slowly got up and then bolted towards the exit. As he ran, he kept his eyes trained ahead, hoping that he would be fast enough to outrun the madman. However, his expectation of getting to safety unscathed was shattered when a cloud of dark mist burst at the gate then materialized into the man that was after him.

Leo skidded into a halt. Although they were still a few feet apart, he could sense the man's anger through his deathly glare. He found no mercy in his eyes as energy gathered into his arms, and he saw no regret in what he was about to do.

As his heart pounded madly against his chest, Leo backed away. He had to make it out of there alive. It would break his mother if he never came home again. However, before he could make another move, the man deployed the blast of energy, and the powerful impact threw him backwards.

"No!"

Sounds and color subsided all at once as everything within him failed function. There was pain, so much of it, for a moment.

Then, suddenly, there was nothing.

* * *

 _to be continued._


	4. Chapter Four

_Thank you to ShadowDragon1553 and EmeraldTulip for your reviews!_

 _This chapter and the last slightly overlaps. Hope you guys enjoy. It's one of our favorite chapters to have worked on._

* * *

 ** _Chapter Four._**

Chase hated to admit it, but he was scared. Looking up as Krane threw his youngest brother in their enclosure, it suddenly hit him that this was it; they were going to die.

He guessed he and his siblings had lived a pretty good life. It certainly got better when Mr. Davenport said that they were going to be enrolled in school. That day changed their lives forever. They learned how to be normal kids, they met and defeated Marcus. Found out Douglas was their real father and that they had another brother. Douglas and Daniel became a part of their family. Through all the missions and mania his family dealt with, he couldn't say he was unhappy about anything.

But now, looking into this madman's eyes, he couldn't help but think about all that he will miss out on. Graduating high school, becoming president. He hadn't even kissed a girl, let alone dated one. Chase guessed he always thought he and his siblings were invincible, were able to take on any challenge.

He guessed this proved him wrong.

Looking at Adam and Bree, he could tell they were as scared as he was. Bree, while trying to put on a brave face, had tears running down her cheeks. Adam tried to be strong and was tying to get in front of his siblings in a futile way to protect them, but Chase knew he was also scared. Looking at his blond-haired brother, he couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Being unconscious meant he didn't have to feel what was about to come.

"Finally." The sound of Krane's voice brought Chase back to reality. "Finally I have all four of you where I want you." Chase got in front of Bree and Daniel, while Adam was adamant on taking the brunt of the attack. "All of you in one place, where I can finally destroy you. Where you will die knowing that soon, the world will be mine." Chase looked on as Krane started to build up a ball of lightning, enough to fry the four to crisp. Somewhere behind him, he could hear Douglas's silent sobs. Chase closed his eyes. "Any last words?"

Chase braced himself for impact. Waiting a few seconds, he couldn't help but notice he was still alive. Opening his eyes, he was shocked to see S-1 unconscious on the floor and Krane twitching, the circuits on his face sparking as he, too, soon collapsed. Looking up, he saw that S-1's cage was deactivated.

The three conscious teens standing up, they stood in shocked silence for a few seconds. Then cautiously, as if his words would end them all, Adam spoke. "Okay...?"

Bree looked down at their foes, utterly confused. "What happened?"

Shaking his head, Chase just said, "I don't know. We didn't—" Hearing a grunt, the three took battle stances, watching as Krane slowly got back up. Staggering to his feet, his eyes showed fire as he looked at the three before him. Then, he started to look around the room, looking for something. What, Chase didn't know.

Suddenly Krane stopped as he stared at a group of barrels by the entrance. The three teens turned and were shocked at what, or rather _who,_ they saw. Kneeling behind the barrels was a teenage boy who looked a little younger than Chase, holding a strange looking gun. The boy's eyes widened as he realized he was spotted. Getting up, he ran for the exit.

The three teens looked at the doorway and at Krane a few more times before they all leaped after their arch-foe. But, before anyone could touch him, he geo-leaped away. The siblings, still very much shocked and confused, stood still for a few seconds before the situation hit them like a runaway train. A teenage boy just saved their lives somehow, and Krane was after him, no doubt wanting him dead.

The siblings looked at each other frantically before sprinting to the exit, making their way outside just in time to see Krane generate a powerful blast wave directed at the dark-skinned boy. Everyone seemed glued to their spots as Krane unleashed the force of energy, the only sound being Bree yelling out "No!" as if it would stop the attack.

The blast blew the boy backwards, and the damage it had inflicted was evident when he fell to the ground. He was so disturbingly still afterwards. He didn't even look like he was alive anymore.

Chase realized then that Krane really had to be stopped.

Adam and Bree also realized this and were ready to lunge at Krane when the gates to the warehouse swung open. A crowd of armed men stood there with Agent Graham in their lead. They seemed taken aback when they saw the bionic madman after he turned around, but it was only momentary. They sensed what they had come up against and quickly shifted to the defensive.

But they underestimated him. Not one to be intimidated by manpower, Krane gathered another wave of energy in his arms, enough to bring down all of the men standing before him.

"Watch out!" Adam yelled.

Chase held his hand out and used his ability to get Agent Graham and his team out of the way. They all fell back to the pavement just before the blast wave went off.

Krane slowly swiveled around and glared at the siblings. It was evident from his face that he was livid, but it was also obvious that the consecutive use of one of his abilities took a serious toll on him. He looked exhausted, and it occurred to Chase that whatever the boy did earlier had already weakened him a lot.

 _This is not over,_ Krane seemed to say to Chase as he looked at him. Then, he vanished.

"What just happened?" Agent Graham asked as he and the others got up from the ground, half-dazed. "Who was that? Did you just attack us?"

Adam, Bree and Chase hurried over to the teenaged boy lying on the ground. Bree carefully turned him so they could see his features. "No," Adam replied to the agent. "Chase had to push you back because Krane was going to hurt you."

Bree shook her head as she looked at the unmoving form. Then, with great fear in her eyes, she looked up at her brothers.

Not giving up easily, Chase checked for a pulse. "Heartbeat is still there, but it's really weak," he told his siblings. "He needs medical attention."

"I can super speed him to the hospital," Bree offered.

Agent Graham frowned thoughtfully when the three teenagers looked up at him. After assessing the situation, he nodded. "Alright. Go," he said. After the girl vanished in a gust of wind with the teenage boy, he told Chase sincerely, "Thank you. You saved us."

Chase nodded. He could tell that that one act had earned them the trust of the man who had been so bent on capturing them. With the succession of unfortunate events that had been happening these past few days, they needed that one good thing. Maybe they could make a case with the government now to let them stay with their family instead of being contained. Maybe they'd listen. It seemed like it was possible.

But with Krane still out there and the life of the boy who had saved them still teetering dangerously on the line, Chase knew not to let the positives overtake him. As far as they were concerned, the night was far from over.

 **. . .**

The waiting room was thick with tension. They had only been there for a little more than an hour, but it seemed like it had been longer. Donald was worried. The doctor hadn't told them anything yet. What made it worse was the dread he felt as they waited for the boy's parents. He didn't know what to tell them. He looked at his three children, all of whom, though anxious, were relatively unharmed. How could he explain to the boy's parents why his kids were safe while their child was not? How would he do that?

The sound of quick footfalls out in the hallway caught their attention. When the small group entered the room, Donald stared in surprise.

"Donald?" Tasha said as she stood by the doorway, a teenage boy and a teenage girl right behind her.

"Tasha," Donald said. "What – what are you doing here?"

"I received a call about Leo being taken here. The woman at the desk said that we can't see him right now, but the people who brought him here is in the waiting room," Tasha said, worry and fear etched on her face.

Donald's heart sank as he remembered her only child's name. "That's your son?"

Tasha looked at the tech mogul. "Yes, that is my son. Do you know what happened?" she asked, tears rolling down from her eyes.

Donald sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Honestly, I don't know the full story. The only thing I do know is that your son is a hero." Confusion appeared on Tasha's face. Sighing, he started to tell what he knew. "As you probably already know, I have been training four bionic siblings and have kept it hidden from the government. What you don't know is that there is another bionic, Victor Krane." Looking up from his shoes, he looked Tasha in the eyes, his eyes reflecting his guilt. "He is the one who hurt Leo. I don't know how, but your son did something that stopped Krane from killing my kids," Donald continued, gesturing to the three kids sitting by, waiting to hear back about Leo and also about their brother who was nursing a minor concussion with Douglas back at the lab. "So, instead, he tried to kill him."

Tasha looked distraught.

"Tasha, I am truly sorry, and I hope you know that I—"

"You did this." Donald stopped as he heard the woman's voice, soft yet audible. "You hurt my son. If it wasn't for you and your kids, my son wouldn't be in the hospital, hanging on to an inch of his life!" Tasha said, her voice getting noticeably louder until she was yelling at him. Staring at him in rage, she then collapsed, tears spilling from her eyes.

Donald tried to help her get up but was stopped by the two teenagers that came with her. "I think you've done enough," the girl said, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. The two then helped Tasha into a chair, holding the sobbing woman.

"Tasha Dooley?" The seven in the waiting room turned to the door to see a nurse. "You are now able to see the patient. One at a time please," she said before disappearing back into the ICU.

Tasha stood up and then followed the nurse. Donald watched her go, his heart breaking for her. However, the sympathy was quickly replaced by guilt and shame as he saw the tearful glower that the other teenage girl in the room was directing towards them. He had seen people look at them angrily before. They hated him and his children because they were different, and he had learned to get used to it. But her resentment did not come from fear, her anger came from disappointment. That was worse.

"C'mon, Natalie. Let's wait outside," the boy said gently as he led her towards the door. Unlike the girl, he seemed to be more forgiving. For some reason, he also appeared to share the guilt they felt. Still, when he glanced back at them, Donald saw the same shadow of disillusionment.

Donald sighed, at a loss of what to say.

"Mr. Davenport? Who was that?" Bree asked once the pair was out of earshot.

"Tasha," Donald answered. "She was the woman I went on a date with three years ago."

"She was the one from online?" Adam asked, surprised.

Donald nodded.

Bree was visibly disheartened when she realized something. "The boy that helped us is her only child," she said.

When their father gave Bree a look of confirmation, Adam exhausted a breath. "Oh man, oh man, oh man," he said, his foot tapping on the floor anxiously when the situation fully sinks in.

"If you guys would like to go home, you may," Donald said when he saw how the three of them were getting affected. "The environment here is not very friendly, and I don't think it's gonna get any better soon. I'll stay and keep you guys updated."

"No, we'll stay here with you, Mr. Davenport," Chase said.

Donald wanted to convince them to go, but he saw that it would be of no use. So, he allowed them to stay. "Alright. It may take a while," he said. "I doubt they'd share anything with us so we probably have to wait until we get to talk to one of the nurses."

"Or I can just listen in."

Donald looked thoughtfully at Chase. He knew eavesdropping on a private conversation was wrong, but that was the best means they had if they were to know what was happening. "Alright," he said.

Chase turned slightly to the hall Tasha and the nurse had vanished to as he tried to locate the voices. He was lost in his search for a while. Then, "Someone's in the room with her. I think the doctor just came in."

"What are they saying?" Adam asked.

Chase held a hand up as he listened closer. "He introduced himself… She asked how her son is. 'Is he gonna get better?' …He said he sustained a lot of injuries from whatever happened…" He listened wordlessly for a stretch of time. Then, when he heard the doctor's words, he exhausted a breath woefully. He turned off the conversation as the sound of Tasha's cries filled his ear.

"Chase?" Bree gently called to her brother, fearful and worried.

"His organs are failing one by one. His heart and his lungs are shutting down, and the doctors can't do anything about it," Chase reported quietly. "He only has a few hours left."

Bree gasped. Adam's head hung low, his jaws locking as he promised to find Krane and make him answer for what he had done. Chase, meanwhile, sank back to the chair he was sitting at, feeling very helpless for the first time in years.

Donald took a deep breath. He had known a day would come when they would not succeed in saving the people they meant to protect, but he didn't expect it would be this early. He certainly didn't expect that the first innocent life they would lose would be of someone so young.

The silence in the room was broken by the sound of Donald's phone buzzing. Drawing it out of his pocket, he checked the screen and saw that it was his brother. He walked out of the waiting room before picking up. "Douglas," he said in a low voice as he headed down the empty hall.

 _"Hey. You guys are still at the hospital?"_

"Yeah," Donald responded. "How's Daniel doing?"

 _"Good. We got everything straightened out so he's just in his capsule sleeping,"_ Douglas said. _"How's the kid?"_

Donald pinched the bridge of his nose then shook his head. "He's not gonna make it," he said.

 _"What?"_

"The blast wave damaged his organs, and the doctors can't save him." Donald stopped walking as frustration overtook him. "Douglas, they gave the kid a few hours. How could this happen?"

 _"Are his parents there?"_

Donald sighed. "He only has his mom. She's in the room with him."

Silence filled the phone lines. Then, Douglas said something unexpected. _"Tell her I'm sorry."_

Donald frowned in confusion. "What do you have to be sorry for?"

Douglas sighed. " _If it wasn't for me, we wouldn't even be in this mess. If I never gave Krane bionics, he never would have targeted the kids. And if he never did that, they never would have been in that fight today. And then that boy in there wouldn't be on his deathbed."_ Remorsefully, he said, _"Donnie, this is all my fault. So tell that poor mother, who is about to lose her son, that I am truly sorry for what I have brought upon the world."_

Donald was stunned by his brother's words. "Douglas, what happened today wasn't your fault. Sure, you have done some bad things in the past, but what Krane has done, and whatever he's planning to do, isn't on you. Don't worry. This boy's death won't be in vain. We will find Krane and stop him once and for all."

Douglas was silent for a moment. _"Are you sure there's nothing they can do?"_ he asked.

"Yeah. There is nothing they can do." Donald sighed sadly. He couldn't imagine what Tasha must be feeling at that moment. If that was Adam, Bree or Chase in there, Donald wouldn't know what he would do. Maybe Douglas was thinking that way, too, how he would feel if Daniel was in Leo's place. Maybe that was why he was feeling so guilty about this boy since he had recently come to understand what it truly meant to be a parent.

A sigh was heard over the phone. Then, if realization was a noise, Donald knew he would have heard it. _"But maybe there is something we can do."_

Donald looked at his phone as if his brother could see his 'What are you talking about?' expression through the device. "I don't understand what you mean, Douglas. How could we do anything?"

 _"Donnie, you don't get it. We have the technology to save this kid. Only thing we have to do is to make the parts necessary to allow his failing organs to work again!"_

Donald stood confused for a moment before what his brother was implying struck him. "Are you saying we make him bionic?" Before his brother could answer, he continued, "Douglas, even if I agreed to that, there would be no time to get the hardware into his system. He would die before we could attach the first instrument."

 _"That's the thing. We don't have to do any of that. I have a quicker way to do it."_

"What are you talking about?"

 _"I'm talking about liquid bionics."_

Donald frowned. Then, he chuckled. "You and I know that no such thing exists."

 _"It does."_

The grin on Donald's face gradually evaporated as his brows wrinkled.

Knowing what his brother would be thinking next, Douglas explained, _"Before I decided to break ties with Krane, I started looking for something I can use against him later on. It was already clear to me that he would be going after the kids, so I knew that the best defense is to cut off his major resources. Along with some evidences that I, or you, could take to the FBI so that they would freeze all of his bank accounts, I also found a project that he had started behind my back. It was a rough outline embedded in the series of e-mails he has exchanged with someone named Gao, but it had enough information in it. I snooped around, searched all of Krane's hideouts as carefully as I could, and then I found it. It was hidden in a vault somewhere in Colorado._

 _"I didn't know what exactly he was going to do with it, but I knew it wouldn't be for good. So I took it. I took the only vial he had, destroyed every copy of the blueprint I could find, and then I left. I hid it where he would never find it, but when I moved in with you and the kids I took it with me. Honestly, I got a little curious about the formulation so I studied it and tinkered with it. I found a few possible fatal flaws in the engineering, so I changed those. And now I have a vial of perfected liquid bionics."_

It took Donald a while to take in all of the new information presented to him. There were answers to some of the questions he'd had for a while, such as the cause of the sudden depletion of their enemies' financial resources, as well as the 'project' his brother had been secretly working on, but there were also more unexpected variables included in there. "I don't know about this," he finally answered. "There are so many things that could go wrong."

 _"Not to sound so callous, Donald, but things are already going wrong, especially for that kid and his mother."_

"What if this kills him? What if it doesn't work and causes him to die sooner? Tasha already doesn't have enough time as it is."

 _"But what if it_ does _work? What if this saves him? We owe that boy some kind of effort. It's the least we could do."_

Donald thought about it and realized that his brother was right. "If this works, his life is gonna change drastically," he said. "What if he can't handle it?"

 _"Let's cross that bridge when we get there,"_ Douglas said. There was a pause, and then, _"I'm coming there with the serum. Children's Hospital, right? Will his mom allow you access?"_

"No. She's very upset with me and the kids right now."

 _"Alright. I'm taking the invisibility cloaks with me, too. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."_

"Okay," Donald said. As he hung up the phone, his doubts multiplied.

 **. . .**

Donald didn't tell Adam, Bree, and Chase of their plan. Instead, he just urged them to go to the cafeteria to get something to eat. They did look hungry, and he wanted them out of the way since he knew that more of the boy's family members would be coming. That would be more resentment directed towards them, and he thought that they'd had enough of it for one night.

Though they hesitated at first, the three eventually obeyed. When they asked why he wasn't coming when he stayed behind, he told them that there was something he needed to do first. They were going to wait, but he kindly asked them to go without him, even promising to be there with them in a moment. They said okay, and then left.

Douglas arrived just as the teenage girl that came with Tasha left the room. They waited for another minute, and when Tasha stepped away to make a phone call, they snuck in, the cloaks covering them.

Donald thought that hearing Tasha cry was heartbreaking enough, but when he saw the state the teenage boy was in, something within him rendered completely apart. There were machines around him, and a tube stemmed out from his mouth. A complex set of metals and wires breathed mostly for him. He had a few bruises on his arms, but the most noticeable was the one stemming out from under the collar of his hospital gown. It was deep red, nearly a violent shade of purple and black. It was obvious that something was broken underneath and could not be fixed. He looked so defenseless.

Shaking the feeling of pity out of their system, they proceeded to do what they came in there for. Douglas took out a dark vial and a sizeable syringe. Donald saw that the serum was faintly mustard in color when Douglas drew it out. If not for the metallic sheen on it, he wouldn't have thought that it differed from some of the liquids common in hospitals. After preparing it, Douglas located the major vein on the right side of the boy's neck with ease. Before continuing, however, he looked up at his brother.

Donald nodded, telling him to go on.

Douglas carefully inserted the needle then flushed the serum into the boy's system. Donald watched the teenager's face for any reaction, but he didn't find any. He was still and peaceful.

Donald hoped that it would work. A kind-hearted person like him didn't deserve to be hurt like that.

After Douglas had finished, they discreetly moved out of the room, only removing their cloaks once they were far away. Once Douglas had left to head back home, Donald joined his children for an early breakfast courtesy of the vending machines lining the cafeteria. As they ate, he couldn't help but think about the decision he and his brother had made. The boy could die, or he could wake up. Either way, lives were going to change, and they were only a few hours away from finding out how.

"Mr. Davenport, are you okay?" his daughter asked him worriedly.

When he realized that he had stopped eating and was staring off into space, he just smiled at her and his sons. "I'm okay. Just thinking," he said.

Yes. It was all a waiting game now.

* * *

 _to be continued._


	5. Chapter Five

_Many thanks to ShadowDragon1553, EmeraldTulip, and Ice 88 for the reviews!_

* * *

 ** _Chapter Five._**

The houses grew grander and more prominent as the luxury car they were in turned into a very affluent street. Leo leaned in closer to the window to marvel at the sight. There were big homes in Walton Bay, and he had seen a few of them, but the ones there in Mission Creek far outdid those. The ones lining the street they were in were mansions, and some of them even looked like they would be palaces on the inside. He couldn't imagine how it would be like to live in one of them. It must be nice.

From the looks of it, he guessed they were not too far from the Davenport residence. When the CEO of the tech company called two nights ago to invite him and his mother over at his house, he did a little research on what his house would look like. He didn't come across anything definitive, but he did see one with a modern structure by the ocean, and from where they were, he could catch glimpses of the Pacific. That must mean they were getting close.

He still couldn't believe it. Everything about that moment felt so surreal.

He guessed the biggest reason why was that he wasn't supposed to be alive. After his encounter with the bionic madman, he never thought he'd survive. As it turned out, his mother and the doctors thought so, too. With how much bodily damage he sustained, she told him that he was slated for death that night. She even made the calls to his grandparents and his aunt to let them know of the devastating possibility that their family would face the next morning. Then, somehow, his condition improved, even to the point that he woke up the following day feeling better than ever.

It stumped everyone, and even now what happened continued to be a mystery.

Another thing that was hard to believe was the personal invitation he got from Donald Davenport himself to come to his house. Given, it may not be that big of a deal and was not that unexpected. After all, they did share some kind of connection. His mother had finally told him that he was the guy she went on a date with three years ago, so they knew of each other to some extent. Not only that, the man was also the father of the children he had saved.

Still, he didn't think that the billionaire would call him after the incident. From what Xavier told him, tensions were running high the night he was taken to the hospital between them and the businessman's family, so he was a little lost as to the reason behind the invitation.

As the car turned towards the massive titanium gates, Leo stole a glance at his mother sitting wordlessly beside him. She looked as unhappy and displeased with that meeting as she did nights ago when she learned of it. It was obvious to him that she still held something against the family. She did make it clear to him, however, that going to the estate was his decision to make. _However_ , should he decide to go, there was no way she would let him go alone. He knew what happened really rattled her, so he didn't disagree with her decision.

The man who picked them up parked near the entrance to the house and then got out to open the door for his mother. Leo, though, stepped out by himself, eager to see the colossal modern house. "Whoa," he breathed out, grinning.

The man led them towards the front door then opened it for them to let them in. Though his mother didn't give any indication of her personal opinion of the interior of the house, Leo wasn't shy about expressing his thoughts on it. However, before he could comment, his attention fell onto the men waiting for them. "Hey. Come on in," Donald said with a warm smile.

"This place is nice," Leo finally said, scanning his surroundings with a nod of approval.

"Thanks," Donald said, grinning. "Uh, would you both like anything to drink?"

No food and no drinks were visible. Leo mentally crossed off the possibility of the invite being for a conciliatory dinner. He shook his head. "No, thank you."

The brothers turned their gaze next to his mother and got an immediate response when they saw her blank yet clearly unfriendly expression.

Donald was visibly discouraged, but he immediately moved past it. "I don't think I've introduced you yet to my brother. Leo, Tasha, this is Douglas. Douglas, Leo, Tasha," he said.

Douglas gave a curt nod then said, "How're you doing?"

"Good," Leo responded.

Tasha said nothing.

After a few seconds of silence, Donald finally spoke. "Okay, then, uh...would you guys like to take a seat?"

"Thanks," Leo said as he sat down. Tasha just sat next to her son, showing zero emotion. It was really starting to get uncomfortable for Leo. Fortunately, the sound of footsteps alerted them to the people coming in. Turning to one of the hallways, Leo saw the four bionic teenagers.

The heroes only stood off to the side awkwardly for a moment. Donald again spoke up. "Um, Leo, Tasha, I don't know if you all have officially met. This is Adam, Bree, Chase, and Daniel. Guys, this is Leo, and that's Tasha. I think I told you that they would be joining us for dinner tonight, right?"

The four teens nodded and remained standing off to the side, feeling like they were not wanted at the moment. That thought did not go away with Tasha's glare directed at them, even though it was much softer than the one she used on Donald.

Finally, Leo stood up and walked over to the people he saved. "Hey, I'm Leo. It's nice to meet you guys."

Adam returned the gesture. "I'm Adam. Um, it's good to see that you're okay." He might have said that to dissolve some of the tension in the room, but what it in fact did was solidify it even more.

In another attempt to ease into a breezier conversation, Donald told Leo after he sat back down, "We invited you, and your mom, to come over today so we could thank you, among a few other things." He smiled sincerely. "What you did for us is something we'd be forever grateful for. My children and my nephew are here today because of you. Thank you."

Leo smiled in return. "You're welcome,…Mr. Davenport?"

"Mr. Davenport, Donald – you call me whichever you're comfortable with," Donald said.

Leo nodded. "Okay. Mr. Davenport," he said. "You're welcome."

"Don't think that whatever you've done is a small deal," Donald continued. He glanced back at the teenagers behind him before adding, "People were scared of us, and some of them even hated us. By stepping in, you proved to us that the world is not as bad as it seems like."

Leo continued to smile although he was beginning to feel uncomfortable about the shower of praises he was getting.

"Do you…mind if I ask how you did it?" Donald asked.

"Did what?"

"You brought down the two people who were after us. We found that blaster. Was that what you used?"

"Um…"

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to, Leo," his mother finally spoke, and the underlying hostility against the others in the room wound the strings of the tension tighter.

Aware of this, Leo diplomatically told her, "It's okay, Mom." Then, to Donald he said, "Yes, that's what I used. It's an EMP gun."

"Figured," Douglas muttered to himself.

"Where did you get it from?" Donald asked.

"My best friend and I made it," Leo explained, quite proud to tell of their accomplishment. "We invented it so we can win the senior prank war."

"Senior prank war?"

Leo nodded, a grin gradually pulling on his lips. "My friends and I are seniors at Northside High. Natalie and I are in the Robotics Club."

"Wait. Did you participate in the Robot Throwdown last year?" Daniel asked, grinning. "Chase and I competed, and we won. Did we see you there?"

"No. We were thinking about it, but the date coincided with the robotics competition in LA so we decided not to do it."

"Did you win?" Donald asked, impressed.

"No, but we placed."

Donald nodded approvingly, and so did Daniel and Douglas. "To be honest, I really didn't think you'd be this much of tech genius, kid," Douglas commented.

Taking offense in the innocent statement, Tasha asked, "And how much of a 'tech genius' did you expect him to be, exactly?"

"Mom." After glancing at his mother, Leo turned back towards the brothers to apologize. As he looked at the expression of surprise and confusion on their faces, he foresaw then how worse it could get if nothing was done about the situation. "Look, Mr. Davenport, I'm really sorry," he began. "It's nice of you to invite us over and even send that cool car to pick us up, but I just don't think us being here is such a good idea. Maybe we should go now."

"No, please," Donald urged, getting up from his seat as Leo stood up. "Please stay. It's important that you do."

"I know. I'm sorry," Leo said as his mother also stood up from her seat.

"No, you can't go. There's something that—"

"Just leave it be, Donald," Tasha said calmly yet firmly. "What has happened is enough. You've got your family here with you alive and well, and I've got mine. Let's just leave things as they are. If you really want to thank my son, just send him a nice Thank You card. Your driver knows where we live."

Frustrated, Donald asked as he watched the two head towards the door, "Why do you hate my family so much?"

Tasha stopped then swiveled back around. "I don't hate your family," she said.

"Fine. Why do you hate me?"

"I don't hate you," Tasha said, her calmness quickly evaporating.

"Oh, really? 'Cause, you know, if looks could kill, I would be dead by now."

"Please, Donald. Let's not make this about you," Tasha said, crossing her arms. Leo, meanwhile, stood aside, watching with bated breath as what he had feared unraveled – while he was standing in between them.

"Well, who else am I going to make this about?"

"I don't know. Use your imagination."

"Mom, please."

"Contrary to what you believe, no one in this room wanted your son to be hurt," Donald told Tasha. "We didn't even know he was there, okay? It was too late when we saw that someone was in that warehouse with us."

"Oh, what, now it's his fault?"

"That's not what I'm saying!"

"Then what exactly are you saying?"

"Mom, Mr. Davenport—"

"I'm saying that you have a problem with us. You said you don't, but you do. I already told you that it was someone else who tried to do away with your son, but instead of blaming him you're blaming us. You're just like those other people. You see something go wrong, and you're quick to pin it on my kids because you think they're different. You think this could only be their fault." Donald shook his head out of disappointment. "Out of all the people, Tasha, I thought you'd be the most understanding, especially after everything that you've told me about how other kids treated your son. Guess I was wrong."

Tasha scoffed. "You don't get it, do you? I don't care what your kids are. All I cared about that night was what almost happened. I'm so sick and tired of losing things and people I love, and that phone call from the hospital just reminded me that I can lose someone again so easily and that, as always, there's nothing I can do about it. So yeah, I got mad, and you know what? I shouldn't have done that. But don't accuse me of a wrongdoing when all I want to do is protect my own. No, I don't hate your children, I don't hate your brother. I don't even hate you. But I do want my child and me to be as far away as we can be from the shadows that follow all of you."

"Well, I'm sorry, but that can't happen at the moment!" Donald said, surprising and confusing everyone but Douglas.

Taking a moment to collect her bearings, Tasha leaned towards Donald in a menacing way that would have put Krane to shame. "Are you threatening me and my son," she seethed through gritted teeth.

Sighing, Donald said in a much softer tone, "No, Tasha, you don't understand. Leo is in—"

Tasha grabbed Leo's arm, not allowing Donald to finish his sentence. "C'mon, Leo. I think we have overstayed our welcome." She then proceeded to drag Leo to the front door.

It made Donald nervous. He knew that if they left, he would never have the chance to explain what happened, and that would put his whole family in danger. So, in a bold move, Donald lunged forward and grabbed Tasha's arm in a desperate attempt to stop her. "Tasha, you need to listen to me! You don't understand—"

Fire in her eyes, she turned back around to face the billionaire. "Don't you dare touch me!" The two adults then proceeded to yell at each other, one trying to scare the other off and the other trying to warn of the future dangers to come. But all that was heard was their screaming; no one could even hear what they were saying, their words becoming jumbled together.

No one except for Leo, who was sadly stuck in the middle of the arguing parents. He was starting to feel extremely uncomfortable, trying to break free of his mother's grip and get away from the fight. He struggled against her hold as he heard his mother insult the billionaire and as Donald tried futilely to calm her down. That was all Leo could do: pull and listen.

The others in the room started to fade from his vision as the anger he felt radiating from the two parties collided into him, irritating him more every second. The yelling started to fade, too, being replaced by the sound of his own heartbeat. He again pulled against his mother's grip, the anxiety of the situation starting to make him feel dizzy. Had he been in better tune with his senses, he would have felt a slight pain in his neck, followed by what would sound like a generator starting up. This feeling gave him enough strength to pull away Tasha's grip, throwing his hand up in the air. But that wasn't all he did.

As his hand went up, a sphere of pure energy shot from his palm and hit the ceiling. A bit of dust and spackle fell from where it hit. The heated debate quickly died down into silence. Everyone in the room just stared at Leo, most in surprise, while Donald and Douglas stared, knowing what was about to happen. Leo just stared at his own hand, amazed and terrified at what he just did. Then, as he started adding everything up, he looked at Donald.

"Surprise!" Douglas said with a grin and a nervous chuckle. "You're bionic!"

 _"What?"_ Tasha, as well as Adam, Bree, and Chase, exclaimed.

Donald sighed. "That's what I've been trying to tell you," he told Tasha wearily. "I didn't invite Leo just to talk to him about what he's done. I also invited him because Douglas and I needed to check how everything's working and if it's working well."

"Wait – Mr. Davenport? You gave another kid _bionics_?" Chase asked.

"Yes."

"And who gave you the right to do that?" Tasha asked crossly.

"Your kid was dying, okay? It was the only thing we could do," Douglas reasoned, joining his brother to help him out. "We know you're upset, but look at what it's done for him. He's here because of it. And I know you're going to say that it wouldn't have been necessary if we had been more careful, but what's done is done. There was nothing we could do that night to reverse it _except_ this."

Though brimming to the full with more thoughts, Tasha decided to keep them to herself for the moment so she could sort them out before speaking again.

Donald, on the other hand, noticed the confused and worried expression on Leo's face. So, he was moved to assure him, "I know this is a lot to take in. This is not what you're expecting, but that's why we're here. We're going to help you figure this thing out."

"And how exactly will you help him?" Tasha asked, much calmer and sincerely curious.

"Well, we have to do a scan first," Donald explained. He glanced at Douglas then added, "We were actually wondering after he went home if his not having a capsule would be an issue since that would make him very prone to glitches—"

"Glitches?"

"His abilities acting out due to emotional triggers," Douglas explained to her.

"Yeah, but I guess he was okay in that aspect, until now," Donald said with a quick glance at the damaged part of their ceiling. "We have capsules in the lab that he could use, at least while we calibrate his bionics with his nervous system. Then, we can pinpoint his abilities. We can train with him. Adam, Bree, Chase and Daniel could help him, too. Abilities could seem like they're a lot to handle, but with enough practice he'd be able to master it. Then there would be nothing he would need to worry about. It'll just become a normal part of his life."

"The only thing is that he may need to have an easy access to a capsule from now on," Douglas added. "With his system activated, sleeping like he normally sleeps will start to become harder. And, again, calibration needs to be constant if we want everything to function correctly."

Donald nodded. Seeing the concerned expression on Tasha's face, he told her, "He just needs to come here every day. He'd still get to go home like always. Just think of this as another necessary addition to his schedule." Then, more seriously he added, "We need to prepare him for when Victor Krane comes back."

"When he comes back?"

Donald nodded. "He's still out there. He's injured and that does buy us time, but he will come back into the picture sooner or later," he said. "He's after our children, and we need Leo's help to stop him."

"No." Leo looked at the people surrounding him, all of whom were staring back at him. It hit him then that most of them were people he didn't know. They were neither friends nor family; they were strangers. He glanced out the window, and the valley lining the orange and blue horizon reminded him that he was in Mission Creek. Earlier memories came back, and very few of them were good. He remembered then how much he disliked that city. For the first time in three years, it dawned on him that he never missed it one bit and that he didn't want to see it every day.

"Thank you for all the offers, Mr. Davenport, but I…can't," he told him. "This is unbelievable, don't get me wrong. I get to be like the superheroes I watch on TV, or like your kids, but – this is not my life. I'm not the person for this job. I have great things going on for me right now. I have great friends, I'm graduating in a few weeks. I'm even going to the college I've always wanted to go to! I can't just leave all of those behind."

"But this is a chance to be something greater," Donald reasoned. "Don't you want to be able to help others? To be able to stop bad things from happening?"

"Bad things will always happen. It happened to my dad, and it happened to me. I don't want to come back to that again," Leo said. "And, that's why I'm gonna study hard, so I can help others. I want to be able to build things that can be used in hospitals or other places."

"What about Krane?" Donald asked though he knew it may be pointless. "Once he finds out you lived, he will come after you."

"I know. That's why I'm going to stay away as far as possible," Leo said. He gave his mother a small smile when he saw the worry on her features. "I'm getting a little tired. Can we go home?"

"Yeah," Tasha said. She nodded. "Yeah, okay."

"Leo—"

"Thank you for letting us come over, Mr. Davenport. And I'm sorry about your roof," Leo said sincerely. Then, he turned around then headed out, his mother right behind him. Before she closed the door, Tasha gave Donald and Douglas an apologetic glance.

Exactly why, they did not know.

. . .

The building was incredibly dark. The only light seen was coming from a dimmed light bulb from the back of the room on the second floor. The light showed a worn out cot, a metal closet, and a worktable piled next to each other by the wall. The buzzing of hundreds of machines could be heard all throughout the building. A single window showed a blizzard coming from outside.

Suddenly, a dark mist burst underneath the light bulb. A moment later, Krane appeared, looking like he was in tremendous pain. His shoulders were sagged in exhaustion. The right side of his face was covered in bandages, hiding where his circuits got fried. Though hard to see, there was some dried blood on his black cloak.

Krane hobbled to the closet. Opening it, he pulled out a first-aid kit and what looked like an advanced soldering iron. Pulling off his bandages, the crazed billionaire got to work at repairing himself.

Cleaning off the dried blood on his face, he couldn't help but growl in pure rage. He almost had them; they were right at his mercy, ready to be out of his life forever. And then, he was stopped. What was worse, it was by a child, just another one that he could hate. If it wasn't for that kid, Adam, Bree, Chase, and Daniel would be dead, and there would be no stopping him. The sting of that loss was not made any better by the fact that they captured one of his best soldiers. While he cared very little about any of his people, this left him with a man down. All because of one kid.

At least he could rest easily knowing he would never have to see that boy again. That blast wave was too powerful for any normal human to withstand. He probably died by dawn.

The blood removed from his face, he grabbed the iron and used it to fix the circuit protruding from his face. The device started to meld the parts back together. He looked around the building he was in, again becoming infuriated. Somehow, almost all of his hideouts were discovered by the FBI. By the time he came to one, the feds were swarming the place.

Fortunately, he knew this one wouldn't be found. He figured Douglas probably tipped off the FBI, telling them where all his hideouts were. But, he never told him of this place. He never even told Gao where it was, even though the mad doctor knew of its existence. He couldn't risk this hideout becoming compromised; he was glad this past week proved he wasn't being paranoid. Unfortunately, with its location, he had no service, so he couldn't contact Gao to tell him what was happening and that they would need to start the plan sooner than they thought.

Oh well, his usefulness was wearing thin anyway.

Finishing up with his face, he put a new batch of bandages on it. He was planning on training his people for a few more months before attacking, but this recent turn of events would put government officials more on guard than usual. He needed that equipment as soon as possible.

Walking over to a guardrail previously hidden in the shadows, he peered down at the floor below him. Smirking he started to speak. "It is time, children. Our efforts will soon be worth it, and the world will be mine! Now..." looking down, he yelled, "rise, soldiers! Rise!"

And hundreds of glowing green eyes looked up to their master.

* * *

 _to be continued._


	6. Chapter Six

_Many thanks to ShadowDragon1553, EmeraldTulip, Susz, and Ice 88 for the reviews! We'll be sending you guys responses soon._

* * *

 ** _Chapter Six._**

Leo didn't get much sleep that night. He had too much on his mind. Whenever he closed his eyes, all he could see was either that wave of energy that almost killed him or the laser sphere he shot out of his hand. Most of the night, he just messed with some of the inventions on his desk but didn't get much done.

He was too focused on what had happened to him in the past two weeks. All he wanted to do was finish an invention, and now he _was_ an invention. It was just too much to take in, especially in one day. Leo appreciated what Mr. Davenport did for him, but it was too much. He didn't want these abilities. Sure, it was what he dreamed of since he was three, but now that he had them he realized what he would be giving away. Going to college, becoming an inventor, marriage, kids—all of those things would just be a dream if he took Mr. Davenport's offer.

And that was the best case scenario. Worst case scenario, he dies. He still did not know much about this Krane guy, but Leo understood that he's dangerous. He didn't know if he could stop someone like him.

He would probably just get in the way anyway. Mr. Davenport had told him that they don't know what abilities he had. He could have something that could hurt his kids and nephew instead of help them.

Leo sighed. It was kind of funny how much his life changed in such a short period of time. No matter where he went, bad things seemed to follow him. The words he said to the Davenport's echoed in his mind: _Bad things will always happen. It happened to my dad, and it happened to me._ Subconsciously, Leo wiped a few tears from his eyes.

Leo looked at the clock he had positioned on his desk. _6:30_. _Wow_ , he thought. _Stayed up all night._ Shrugging off his conflicting emotions, he decided to get up and get ready for the day. Even though it was Sunday, he had a feeling he would be busy today.

. . .

The four teenagers guardedly watched the girl they knew as S-1 as she finished the food they had given her. From her undivided focus on what she ate, they could tell that she was not as concerned about their suspiciousness as she was about getting filled. In a way, that made them feel at ease. It told them that she really was innocent of the wrongs she had done and only did them because of the Triton app. Now that they had extracted her chip, which had been severely damaged and rendered useless by the EMP blaster, she was harmless, so there was nothing they had to worry about.

Still, because of their past experience with Marcus, Chase insisted that they keep a close eye on her.

"Thank you for breakfast," S-1 said, smiling at them. She thanked Adam when he handed her another bottle of water.

Chase said nothing about it. Instead, with his arms crossed albeit with a softer expression on his face he asked, "Are you ready for another round of questioning?"

S-1 nodded. "Yes," she said, "but, I doubt I'd be able to give you more information than what I already gave you."

"Try anyways," Bree encouraged her. "Whatever else you can remember will help."

"Alright," S-1 said.

"So, you said that you don't remember the exact location of where Krane's hiding out," Chase began. "You said you only remembered it being dark and very cold in there. Were there anything else?"

S-1 thought about it. However, she came up with nothing. She shook her head.

"Okay, what about small details? Like main doors or windows. You remember anything like those?"

S-1 shook her head again. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely.

Arriving at another dead end yet again, Chase decided to let his siblings take over. After glancing at them, asking them to continue through it, he walked back to where his father and uncle were. "I don't think we'll get any farther than where we are, Mr. Davenport," he said quietly as he and his father watched Bree and Adam take turns in asking questions. "Maybe we should approach this differently. Like, use visual cues to jog her memory?"

"Yeah. That may not be a bad idea. We really don't have time to lose," Donald said with a thoughtful frown, his arms crossed. He turned his head towards his brother then asked, "What do you think, Douglas?"

"Sounds good to me," Douglas muttered absently as he closely examined the EMP gun at the table he was sitting at.

Donald huffed and rolled his eyes. "Will you stop messing with that thing and start paying attention to what's happening right now? Krane could come back at any minute, and here you are pouring all of your attention on that," he said as he snatched the screwdriver from his hand. "And why are you taking it apart anyways? This is not ours. We need to give it back."

"I know, but I just wanted to see how it's constructed," Douglas said. "I can put together a blaster like this and upgrade it so the kids can use it on missions."

"You can't just take somebody's invention without asking them for their permission."

"I took Krane and Gao's. I don't hear them complaining about it."

"That's because they don't know that you stole it," Donald said. "Seriously, Douglas, I cannot in good conscience take the work of teenagers and pass it off as my own. They worked hard on this. We can't just take it."

Knowing that his brother was right, Douglas could only sigh. Briefly, he regretted ever allowing himself to develop a good, working conscience. "Fine. I'm gonna leave it alone," he said in surrender then began gathering the parts scattered about to put them back together.

As he watched Adam dig through his backpack excitedly to show his younger siblings and S-1 something, a concern that Chase has had since yesterday came up in his mind again. He uncrossed his arms as the frown on his face softened. "Mr. Davenport, why did you give that boy bionics?" he asked. "I know you said that you did it to save him, and I'm not against that. It's just – I'm wondering how that would affect everybody in the long run."

"To be honest, Chase, I don't know," Donald said with a small smile. "All Douglas and I were thinking about that night was that we didn't want him to die. We weren't even sure if our plan would work." His brows lightly wrinkled. "Why? Are you worried that it would be a problem?"

"Well, I'm just—"

"Chase," Bree called him, cutting their conversation short.

Seeing the urgency in her expression as well as the alarmed ones that were on Adam's and Daniel's faces, Chase and Donald, along with Douglas, came towards them. As they got closer, they saw worry and fright in S-1's eyes as she stared at the green glow stick bracelet that Adam had given Daniel.

S-1 looked at Donald then Chase. "Krane's plans. I remember them. I remember him telling me," she said. "He wants to take over the world."

"Well, we kinda know that already," Adam said jokingly. "He's been telling us that since day one."

Defensively, S-1 said, "Yeah, but did you know that he wants to do it by putting everyone under the Triton app?" Seeing the shock it had created, she added, "I can't remember exactly how, but that's what he said he's gonna do. He wants to get rid of the four of you because you're holding him back."

When his children and his nephew looked at him, Donald said decisively, "We really need to find Krane. We have to stop him before that happens."

"He's not the only person you have to worry about." As they all turned towards her, S-1 said, "S-1. I'm soldier number one. I'm not the only person that Krane's counting on to do the dirty work for him. There are many others like me. And they're all bionic."

The dread that loomed over them from the first revelation suddenly fell, and the impact caused a full understanding of the dire and terrible situation they were all in. They were outnumbered at best. If the other soldiers S-1 spoke of were as skilled and powerful as Krane, they may not stand a chance. However, this was not a battle they could afford to lose. Krane was going to take people's freedom, and that may just be worse than him taking their lives. They couldn't let it happen.

But, how could they succeed when they already nearly lost the last time?

However, as that night replayed in Donald's mind, an idea came to him. "You four stay here with her. Come on, Douglas," he said before walking off to the elevator.

Douglas frowned. "Where are we going?"

Donald stopped to pick up the EMP gun from the table. "We're gonna ask for help," he said, glancing back at him.

"Help?" As the answer came to him, the look of confusion cleared from his face. "Donnie, he already said no."

"The worse that could happen is that he says no again. It won't hurt to try. We need him on this," Donald said.

"Wait. What's going on?" Bree asked, lost, after Douglas reluctantly followed his brother to the elevator.

"Try to check for any suspicious activities. Widen the parameters of your search to worldwide. We'll be back soon," Donald said.

The elevator door closed after Douglas joined him, and the lack of any answer left the four teenagers more confused.

. . .

"Okay, so for question one I circled B, cosine theta."

"Cool. I got cosine theta, too."

Leo frowned deeply at his practice test. "I got E, The election of the President by the electoral college rather than by direct election," he said then looked up at Natalie and Xavier.

Natalie gave him a similar confused stare. Xavier, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes as he thought about it. "What? What practice test are you on?" Natalie asked as she took the review sheet from him.

"You're really having a bad day, aren't you?" Xavier asked after Leo sighed in exhaustion.

"Probably one of the worst. I didn't even get enough sleep last night," he said, the sound of the doorbell ringing then of his mother's footfalls echoing from downstairs.

Xavier only gave him a sympathetic smile. Natalie, meanwhile, handed him back the review packet. "Well, okay, we can give you a few minutes to work on the first question from the Calculus practice test," she said.

Before Leo could reply, he heard his mother call him. "Can you come down here for a minute?" she asked.

He exchanged glances with the two when he heard the seriousness in the tone of her voice. He got up from the floor, and then came downstairs to look for his mother. He found her by the front door – and he saw that she wasn't alone.

"Um, hey, Leo," Donald said awkwardly.

Leo was surprised to see them there, especially with how everything ended yesterday. Tasha seemed equally surprised to see the billionaire. "Hey, Mr. Davenport. What are you doing here?"

Looking at Douglas, the younger inventor continued. "You, uh, forgot this at the house yesterday," he said, showing him the EMP gun.

"Uh, thanks," Leo said, taking the device out of his hands. Looking it over, he saw that it had been fixed. "And, thanks for fixing it."

"Yeah, fixing it," Douglas said, chuckling nervously.

Leo raised an eyebrow at that but decided to ignore it. He turned around to go back upstairs but felt a question gnawing up his throat. "I don't mean to sound rude, but I don't think you would come all the way here just to return my invention. Is there something else?"

Donald's nervous smile became a frown with a sigh. "We need your help."

Sighing, Leo spoke. "Look, Mr. Davenport, I already told you, I can't be a part of your team. It's just not—"

"There's more than S-1." Donald said, cutting him off. Seeing his confusion, he continued. "That girl that was with Krane, her name was S-1. Soldier 1. Meaning that there are more, a whole army of bionics under Krane's control. And we won't stand a chance unless we have all the help we can get."

Leo was shocked. Before he could speak, they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. "Hey, Boy Genius, what's taking so long?"

The conversation hit an awkward lull as Natalie and Xavier stood behind Leo, eyeing their unexpected guests less than welcomingly. Douglas only looked back at the two, unfazed; he remembered his brother mentioning them in his account of what happened at the hospital. Donald, meanwhile, tried to smile but failed. He still couldn't bear their stares.

Leo was discerning enough to know that it would not be in everyone's best interest if he continued the conversation in an unfriendly environment. "Guys, will you give us a minute? I'll be back quickly," he told them. When Natalie continued to glare, he handed her their invention with a small smile. "It's gonna be okay, Nat. I really won't take long."

The ice in Natalie's glower melted. She returned his smile then turned around with Xavier, but not without darting one last steely glance at the brothers.

Leo stepped out as they left and then led the way towards the driveway. As the brothers followed him, he looked around to see if anyone in the neighborhood was listening but found none. He crossed his arms. "So, you said there are more of them," he said rather than asked. Donald nodded. He shrugged. "I don't see how I can be of any help. I'll just add to your headcount, but I'm not so sure about using these…you know."

"See, that's where we come in. We can train you," Donald said. "I've been training Adam, Bree, and Chase since they were little, and Douglas has been training Daniel for about a year or two. They're pretty good at using their abilities."

"They had _years_ , Mr. Davenport. From what I'm picking up, I'm not gonna have as long. If that hardwired psychopath is coming back soon, I…" Leo then shook his head as he saw the futility of the plan.

"Don't shortchange yourself. Between the five of you, your system's probably the most advanced. I'm sure we can do something about it."

"Like programming me to be good."

"Yeah."

Leo smiled bitterly. "I'm not shortchanging myself, I'm just being realistic. I know what I can and cannot do," he said. "As far as programming me? Hard pass."

"No, that's not what I meant—"

"No, don't worry. I got you the first time. Amping up these abilities or whatever. I understand," Leo said. "But, you have to see it from my perspective. I don't have the skills that's needed in taking down that guy and his people. I'm not athletic like your children. I'm clumsy at best. I'm just gonna get killed, and – I don't want to put my mom through it again. It's cruel."

"But if you train—"

"I'm gonna get better, I know. But I don't want to take any chances." Leo sighed and then apologetically said, "I wish you both and your children the best in what you need to do. Thank you in advance for saving the world." Then, he made his way back to the house.

"You may think you're protecting her by refusing to join us, but you're not."

Leo stopped. He turned around.

"Everyone who's important to you is in danger. I don't mean that _they're gonna die_ in danger, but I mean with what Krane has planned, _death wouldn't sound too bad_ in danger," Douglas said. "Look, I get it. You don't want to get involved. The last time you did, a crazy guy almost killed you when all you were trying to do was do something good towards others. You tried to be nice and you almost got offed, and that's just plain messed up. But something bigger is coming. If we don't stop it, the future that you want for yourself, for your mom, for your friends? You might as well kiss it goodbye 'cause they ain't gonna happen.

"We know that we're asking too much of you, but it's a do or die moment now, kid. Can't you just set all of what happened to the side for a relatively quick moment and step up to the plate? Everything you've known is at risk now. We're willing to do something about it, and you should be, too. We understand you're scared, but you did a pretty good job before when all you had was an EMP gun. Now you got more than a gadget with a missing part. You got us, too. What's stopping you?"

Leo thought about it. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Douglas was right. Though not quite fully sold, he asked, "What are Krane's plans exactly?"

Douglas crossed his arms. "Unless you're willing to help out, you don't need to know," he said.

To soften the bluntness of his brother's statement, Donald offered, "Okay, how about this. How about we guarantee that we stay out of your life forever if you help us with this one mission? It'll be your first and last. After that, we'll give you everything you need – your own capsule, the programs necessary to maintain your overall balance, the whole nine yards. Then, we'll be gone."

Leo frowned thoughtfully. "I don't need a capsule. Everything's fine," he lied although he knew that last attempt to hold on to his decision to refuse was weak.

Douglas scoffed. Donald only gave him a smirk. "Your eyes are bloodshot. We know you haven't been able to sleep well," he said. Seriously, he said, "One last mission. That's all I ask."

As the teenager pondered about it, Douglas said, "Don't give us an answer right now. Think it over. We're gonna start training tomorrow. If you show up, that tells us you're onboard. If you don't, then…" He shrugged. Then, he headed back to the car.

Donald turned around to follow his brother, but after a few steps, he paused. He swiveled halfway around and told Leo, "No matter what you choose, you're still gonna be a good person in my book." He gave him a sincere smile, and then he joined his brother.

Leo watched as the two men got in their car then drove away. His mind was in a jumble after they vanish down the street. He still had no idea what that supposed plan was, but he knew that the details really didn't matter. Douglas didn't seem like he was lying. He didn't look like he would be inclined to with a matter like this in the first place. That frightened Leo, because Douglas being truthful meant that his warnings carried a heavy weight.

No future for him or for anyone if they failed, and his involvement would have a direct bearing on that outcome.

Leo came back inside their house and was conflicted with many thoughts. However, as soon as he saw his mother, sitting on the couch with a sad expression on her face, all thinking stopped. He suspected she heard the conversation, and maybe it had frightened her too as it did him. With an encouraging smile, he walked over to her then sat by her side. "Mom?" he kindly called to her.

She looked up at her son with a smile. "Yeah?"

Leo chuckled lowly. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough."

"Well, you don't have to worry. Most of the stuff I said was just to get them to go away. I'm not going to leave."

There was a pause. Then, Tasha spoke. "Yes, you are."

Leo frowned, surprised by her reply. "What do you mean I am?"

She looked again at her son before letting out a soft laugh and deciding that the floor looked a lot more interesting at the moment. Before Leo could ask what was so funny, she said, "Do you remember the time when you were ten and missed your bus home?" Leo had to think about that. He had missed the bus a multitude of times, so he had no idea what time she was talking about. Tasha, seeing his confusion, continued. "You came home beaten down, blood dripping from your shoulder, and looked ready to collapse. Yet you had the biggest smile on your face. We had to get you to the hospital, and I was so angry at you, demanding that you tell me what caused you that much harm."

Leo frowned before remembering when she was talking about. "Oh yeah, I do remember that. But what has that got to do with anything?"

Tasha looked up. Her eyes were glazed with tears, yet she still kept her smile. "You had to walk home that day, through the worst part of town. You said you were so scared, and were berating yourself on doing something so stupid. You told me you were almost in our old neighborhood, when you heard a scream. You remembered going into the nearby alleyway and seeing a girl your age being backed into a wall by some high-school gang. She had such a scared expression on her face, you kept saying, and you felt so bad for her. You could have just ran away, but no, you had to be a hero." Leo was confused, still not seeing what his mother was getting at.

By now the tears were dripping down her face. "You ran up to the closest guy and knocked him in the head with your lunchbox. Honestly, until two weeks ago, I didn't know if that was the bravest or dumbest thing you've ever done. But, it gave the girl a chance to get away. You told me those kids saw what you did, and then beat you up instead. Yet, you came that afternoon and had the biggest smile on your face. And I remember asking you what about that story makes you smile.

"You said that, even if you never got any recognition, even if those bullies walked away that day, you gave that girl a second chance. And that's exactly what you did for Donald's kids: you gave them a second chance. You took the biggest risk of your life and gave them that. That's called being a hero, Leo. Taking the risk, even if you won't get the recognition, even if you get beat up. You do what you do because you can help the people that need it. And that's why I know you are going to help Donald: because you, Leo Dooley, have been and always will be a hero." Tasha then kissed her son on the forehead and walked upstairs to tell Natalie and Xavier they should head home. Leo had a lot to think about.

. . .

Donald was getting worried. He thought that maybe Leo would show up after Douglas gave his speech yesterday. Apparently not.

"Donnie, the kids are getting impatient downstairs. Are you coming or what?" Douglas asked as he came into the living room.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Donald said, giving another look at the door.

Seeing this, Douglas sighed. "I'm sorry. I know we need his help. But, we really need to start training downstairs."

Looking at the door one last time, Donald started to follow his brother. Until the doorbell rang. Genuinely surprised, the two brothers ran to the door and opened it to reveal the sixteen-year-old boy they were waiting on.

"One mission. That's it?"

Smirking, Donald replied, "That's it."

Smiling at the two geniuses, Leo stepped inside. "So, where do we start?"

* * *

 _to be continued._


	7. Chapter Seven

_Many thanks to Susz, Ice 88, and EmeraldTulip for the reviews! Also, apologies for not posting sooner._

 _Please enjoy!_

* * *

 ** _Chapter Seven._**

Krane's supposed headquarters seemed to be a retired aircraft garage located in the middle of nowhere. From the light filtering in from a row of windows high-up on the walls, Leo could tell it was still snowing. Not that he needed another evidence of the whiteout outside; he was constantly fighting the vicious chill pressing in on him, causing him to shiver almost uncontrollably.

He hated that mission already. It was freezing, and they were stuck in an unknown location. Not only that, but getting a good visual on anything was difficult what with all the items obstructing their path. A few days of training may have made him better than how he was when he started, but he wasn't too sure it had prepared him sufficiently to carry out their task in an environment like that.

 _"Daniel, Adam, what are your statuses?"_ Chase asked over the com set.

 _"Single and ready to mingle,"_ Adam replied jokingly.

A pause. _"We've cleared the area, Chase,"_ Daniel reported, probably after shooting his oldest brother a blank stare.

 _"Great. Bree?"_

 _"Clear here, too,"_ Bree said.

 _"Good."_ Leo expected Chase to ask him the condition of the area he assigned him to, but the conversation only went static.

If he was to be completely honest, Leo wasn't quite sure about this team. He had given them the benefit of the doubt, that the relationship between him and them were strained because they were as surprised as he was with this unexpected, new development. He was okay with the possibility that all of them may never become friends. After spending some time with them, though, he had grown accustomed to them. At times he even liked them.

Adam was funny. If Leo was asked who among the siblings would he most likely hang out with even after the whole ordeal was over, he would choose him. The eldest was light spirited, and he wasn't afraid to take risks. He did so superfluously at times, however, but that wasn't a big deal.

Bree and Daniel weren't bad either. Bree had tried a few times to be kind by involving him in conversations during downtime when they train. Daniel was reserved and seemed a little unsure about how to view him, but once he saw his two older siblings interacting with him relatively breezily, he warmed up to him.

Chase… Chase was different. Leo guessed he was the factor that made him unsure. Chase had been aloof. Leo suspected that it was because the third Davenport child viewed him as a stranger who had all of a sudden been given access to something private such as their trainings, but unlike his siblings he had yet to show a hint of friendliness towards him. Leo didn't want to be paranoid, but at times it was obvious to him that the guy favored plans that excluded him or pushed him into the background. Honestly, he didn't know what he had done to incur that.

Chase liked bossing him around whenever he could in trainings, too, which, actually, wasn't really a big problem in itself. Natalie was also fond of telling him what to do when they worked on their inventions, and sometimes she would be brash when speaking to him, but at least afterwards she would smile and sincerely commend him for his efforts through a joke. Chase wouldn't. Leo wasn't seeking for a pat on the back, but he deserved at least a positive evaluation. Or a nod. Or a 'Hey, we got this new information regarding Krane's hideout. Wanna hear it?'

Honestly, the scowls and suspicious glances were not cutting it and were starting to get old.

 _"Newbie, what're you up to?"_ Adam asked.

Leo ducked behind two metallic carts. _Find a hiding spot and stay there,_ Chase had directed him earlier. He looked up at the small plane parked only some distance away from him. "Oh, nothing much. Just chilling," he said with a grin. "Literally."

Adam chuckled. Leo heard a faint chuckle from Daniel, too. _"Good one,"_ Adam said.

 _"Guys, stop messing around. We're gonna get spotted if you keep on,"_ Chase said. Some soft agreements were said over the comm link, but not before Adam muttered 'fun killer' under his breath. Rolling his eyes, he continued to speak. _"Okay, now that we're back to business, here's the plan: we know somewhere in here Krane is training his army. Our mission is to see how many soldiers there are and collect as much data as we can on them. Adam, Daniel, you guys search the perimeter for the soldiers. See how many you can find, what their abilities are, and so on."_

 _"Gotcha, bro,"_ Daniel said.

 _"Bree, you are going to try and find where Krane made the solders' bionics. He must have some machine that could replicate or repair the necessary parts. If we find the source, then he won't be able to create more bionics."_

 _"Okay, and what are you going to do?"_ Bree asked.

 _"I'm going to see if I can find Krane's workstation. He has to have a computer somewhere around here. If I can access his files, then I can find all the information we need before Adam and Daniel locate their first soldier."_

Leo had to admit, that was a pretty good plan. Now all he needed was his role and they could start.

 _"Alright guys, one last thing."_ Ah, here it is. _"We don't know what kind of gadgets Krane has to keep out intruders. He may have something that can scan our heat signatures, or maybe something that can scan for our bionic chips. So, try to keep your use of bionics to a minimum. Alright, now everyone fan out and be careful."_

Everyone shut off their comm link, except for Chase, so he could contact anyone to see if they were safe, and Leo, who thought Chase accidentally forgot about him again. "Uh, Chase, what about me? What's my assignment?"

 _"Oh."_ The surprise in Chase's tone confused Leo even more. _"Um, stay where you are and keep a lookout. If you see anyone, call in and one of us will come and save you."_

 _Splendid,_ Leo deadpanned mentally as the conversation reached a dead end. A glorified, upgraded damsel in distress. As far as he could remember, that was not what he signed up for.

No matter. As soon as this mission was finished, he could leave and carry on with his life. At least he could count on Mr. Davenport fulfilling his end of the bargain as he had stated it.

He looked around the area he was in, and behind the small aircraft he caught a glimpse of a rusty but nonetheless steady metallic ladder leading up to a ledge. Craning his neck, he saw that it led to a dark room. He decided to investigate further, but not without checking if the area was clear first. Peeking from behind the carts, he saw no one. He took this as his cue and hurried to his new destination.

Once he reached it, he searched his surroundings again, not only for Krane and his soldiers but also for his teammates. He knew going out to explore went against the instruction given to him, and the last thing he wanted was to get caught red-handed. Technically, he was still doing his job. He was still keeping a lookout, only that he was going to do it in a different vantage point.

He reached for the bottom rung then pulled it down. He shook it gently to check its safety. Then, when he was satisfied, he watchfully ascended to the ledge. When he got to the top, he was able to see the entirety of the garage. From one glance, the floor and the items, both big and small, appeared to form a maze. At this, a smirk pulled on his face.

Maze. That was smart of them.

He decided to try one of the windows to access the dark room. He tugged on the sliding panel, and after a few tries it opened. He crawled into the space carefully and tumbled inside noiselessly without hurting himself very much. Rising back to his feet, he closed the window and then surveyed the room.

He could tell easily that it was a control area, complete with panels bearing switches and monitors showing different sections of the base. He drew closer to the neat arrangement of screens and watched the live footages streaming in. On the seventh one, he saw that Bree had ambled into a place that looked like a hospital room, only that it was equipped with more advanced, more complicated devices. _"Chase, I think I found it,"_ he heard Bree report.

 _"Good,"_ Chase said, and Leo located him in the second screen; he was just outside the garage. _"Adam? Daniel? Did you copy?"_

Adam and Daniel didn't respond, and from their uninterrupted interaction, which was showing on the fourth screen, it was clear that the question didn't register. "They still have the sets on silent, El Jefe," he told Chase.

 _"I told Adam to stop doing that,"_ Chase muttered. _"Alright, I'm still looking for the work station. Maybe I'll come across them."_

"If you're looking for your brothers, they're on the opposite side, south exit," Leo said, smirking lightly as he watched the two. "And—"

A ring of dark clouds suddenly formed around Adam and Daniel, and soon a group of six people materialized around them, ready to attack. Outside the room Bree was in, two others appeared.

Leo's eyes widened, and as he stared at the oncoming trouble he realized that the footages were broadcasted not only to the screens in that room but to somewhere else.

 _"How did you know where they are?"_ Chase asked slowly.

"It's an ambush. Chase, they're watching us," Leo told him urgently.

 _"What? What are you talking about—"_

 _"Uh, Chase?"_ Adam said. _"We've got a little situation here."_

 _"What do you mean by 'a little situation'?"_ Chase asked hurriedly.

 _"Probably the same thing as when I say I have a big problem,"_ Bree said. _"Two soldiers just appeared from the next room. They are pretty powerful. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to hold them off."_

 _"Same thing over here Chase, but we have six soldiers. We're doing fine right now but more are probably going to start showing up sooner or later. We need to get out of here, and fast,"_ Daniel said.

 _"Okay, hang in there guys. I'm going to try and find Bree and help her first. Then we'll come over and help you guys out."_ Leo watched Chase on the screen turn around and start to head out of the room he was in. What Chase didn't see, though, was the soldier who materialized right behind him and who started to generate a fireball in his hands.

Fortunately, Leo did. "Chase, quick, behind you!" Chase, confused, turned around, and saw the soldier with a now ready fireball. Right before he launched, Chase activated his force field, successfully blocking the attack. Then, turning the force field into its projectile form, he launched it at the soldier, knocking him out.

 _"Leo, how did you know someone was behind me? Where are you?"_ Chase questioned, looking around as if he would see where the younger boy was.

"I'm in some control room. There are screens everywhere that show the garage. Right now, I can see wherever you guys are."

 _"Can you see Bree?"_

"Yeah, hold on." Leo looked at the screens before finding the one where Bree was, successfully fighting the two soldiers off, though he could see she was getting tired. "Alright, she's in the northwest hallway. She's holding them off for now but she can't do it forever."

 _"Bree, I'm on my way to you,"_ Chase said, running off to the direction given to him.

Leo's mind raced as Bree, Adam and Daniel fought off their enemies. He wanted to help, maybe the brothers more than Bree since they were the closest and since they the odds against them were greater, but he worried he would just be in the way. Besides laser sphere generation and super strength, he still had no idea the extent of his abilities, let alone how to use them in a way that wouldn't hurt the people in his team.

He turned his eyes back to Bree and saw that she was already showing signs of weariness. Her opponents had landed a blow, none too substantial but enough to get her stumbling back. Chase was still some ways off.

He had to do something. He looked in the hallway to find anything that he could tell her to use. A second later, he located an object attached to the ceiling: an emergency light – and it was pointed towards the two soldiers. He looked at the panel of switches beside the screens, and there he saw the lever for the power in that entire floor of the building. He smirked. "Let's see if you guys have super senses," he muttered. Then, he pulled it down.

Intense light flooded from above Bree as darkness consumed the entire floor, and it struck her two opponents straight in the eyes. They cringed from it, and they were left blocking their faces with their arms. Bree saw this opportunity and rapidly tackled them both, causing them to fly off then land backwards where they fell unconscious.

"Guess you do," Leo mumbled. He glanced at Adam and Daniel's screen, and he saw them still barely keeping themselves afloat. Quickly, he searched through the switches again, apparently now his best source of defense, this time for something supersonic. "You guys may want to cover your ears," he told his team as he pushed up the volume to the maximum level after finding it.

 _"What?"_

"Cover your ears." Leo held a hand above the button and the other to cover one of his ears. "Now!" He slapped it, and then tried his best to block off the noise.

A gratingly loud klaxon alarm blared throughout the whole building, and it incapacitated their enemies, all of whom were taken by surprise. They recoiled from it, some even stumbling to the ground as they desperately shielded away their already ringing ears. Leo allowed the sound to continue for a few more seconds, but once he saw that recovery had become nearly impossible for them, he turned it off.

Adam and Daniel took the sudden silence as their cue to finish what they had started. Unlike the first time, they were able to do so more easily and successfully. Meanwhile, Bree and Chase, the latter still reeling back from the nearly overwhelming assault on his hearing, hurried back to the plane garage to help their brothers.

 _"Well. How about them apples?"_ Adam said as he straightened out his mission suit, grinning victoriously.

Daniel was bent over as he tried to catch his breath. _"That was a close one,"_ he commented.

 _Not too shabby for a lookout, huh, Chase?_ Leo wanted to joke, but before he could he noticed another figure on the fifth screen, shaking his head as he tried to rid himself of what must be echoes bouncing off in his skull. He was taller and seemingly more menacing than he remembered, but one look left no doubt in Leo's mind that this was the monster in his nightmares. _Krane._

 _"What did you say, Leo?"_ Bree asked.

He was there, and he was just by the door below him, waiting for Bree and Chase for when they come through.

 _"Guys, get out of there quick! Krane is—"_ Leo wasn't able to finish as the door dividing the hallway and the room Krane was in exploded. Bree was thrown against the opposing wall, knocking her out. Meanwhile, Chase watched from the floor as Krane stepped into the room, generating a fireball to throw at the them. He quickly put up his force field, successfully deflecting the blast, but Leo could tell it was taking all his strength to keep the force field up. And it wouldn't last much longer.

Leo quickly activated his comm set. "Adam, Daniel, Chase and Bree need help. Krane is there, and they don't have the energy to fight back. They are in the central hallway. Hurry, I'll meet you there."

Leo turned around, going back to the window he used to climb in. He climbed out and went back to the lowest level of the garage, just in time to see Adam and Daniel arrive from the closest hallway and Chase's force field break. Krane charged another blast and launched it before any of the three heroes could get to the boy genius. Chase was successfully hit and flew a few feet back, knocking him out. The madman turned and looked at the remaining three. "Two down, three to go," he smirked, generating a small blast wave before launching it.

Adam, Daniel and Leo dove out of the way, hiding behind some nearby barrels. Leo turned to Adam and Daniel. "You guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine. But what are we gonna do about him?!" Daniel yelled, seeing Adam peek over the barrel tops, only to duck back down to avoid an incoming fireball.

Leo paused and looked around the barrels, watching Krane as he approached their hiding place. Looking past the madman, he saw two of his teammates unconscious. Leo looked around the room, trying to find something that could help them. Nothing. All he saw were these barrels.

He paused. The barrels.

He looked at the barrel in front of him and almost screamed with joy when he saw that it had _FLAMMABLE_ written on it. Checking the other barrels close to him, he saw that all of them said that. "Daniel, can you replicate Chase's force field?" he asked.

"Yeah." Daniel frowned. "Why?"

Leo subtly nodded at the labels on the barrels they were next to and then stared at him to communicate his plan.

It only took Daniel a quick moment to understand. "What about you?" he asked.

"Don't worry. I got this," Leo told him with a smirk. To Adam he said, "You and Daniel get to Bree and Chase. I'm gonna be right behind you."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Adam said before taking another quick look around for Krane. After mapping out the safest route, he swatted Daniel on the arm then motioned for him to follow.

When the brothers neared their siblings, successfully dodging another shot from Krane, Leo decided to finally distract their opponent. "Hey, Anger Issues," he called to Krane after stepping out from his hiding place. He gathered a supercharged laser sphere in his palm. "Go long," he said then lobbed the sphere overhead. As Krane watched it catapult above him, Leo made a mad dash towards the hallway. "Daniel, now!" He yanked one of the large, sturdy metallic doors on the way in, tearing it off from its hinges so it would sufficiently cover the path of the blast.

Daniel rushed to his side and employed a force field beyond the door while Adam helped Leo in holding it up just as the laser sphere collided with the highly combustible items in the plane garage.

There was a bright flash of light.

Then, an impact strong enough to rattle the ground went off.

Leo sat up, gasping for the air that he felt had just been knocked off his lungs. He labored to catch his breath as he stared unseeingly at the screen built in to his goggles, the pixelated words _SIMULATION TERMINATED_ blinking on it. He pulled the device away from his eyes and then worked to calm his frayed nerves. His heart was pounding. It all felt too real.

Once settled, he looked around the room. Like him, Adam and Daniel were also untangling themselves from the devices, victorious and quite thrilled expressions on their faces. Meanwhile, by the control panels, Douglas was typing in a command, no doubt to call up the performance reports from the system. Donald only watched them with a small smile, a tablet in his hand. Bree also looked at the three of them favorably as she watched them at her assigned port.

Chase, however, appeared very dissatisfied.

Leo looked at Donald nervously. "Did I just get us all killed?" he asked.

Donald shook his head. "On the contrary, actually," he said.

"Yeah. Good thinking with the door, dude," Adam said, walking over to Leo's port where he still sat then giving him a congratulatory fist bump. Hesitantly, Leo took it.

"You're really learning quickly, newbie," Bree added with a grin. "We were watching the live playback after we were kicked out. You did a great job."

"I wouldn't call it that." As everyone in the room turned to look at him, Chase hopped off from his port. "He disobeyed clear instructions, went off searching the facility on his own, and endangered all of us with that wild, last minute plan. If that had been the real mission, we all could've been terribly hurt."

"Oh, come on, Chase. That wasn't too bad," Daniel said. "He did what he could under the circumstances."

"Circumstances, which he had created," Chase firmly pointed out.

To diffuse the situation, Leo said with a smile, "Wasn't the point of this whole thing to eliminate the threat? He was eliminated. Mission accomplished. Do I really need to be faulted for the things that I did wrong?"

"Look. All of this might seem like some game to you, some exciting new challenge that you can brag about on some college essay sometime down the line, but to me it's serious. It only takes one mistake, and everything goes up in flames. I'm trying hard to protect my family, and that's why plans exist," Chase told him with a piercing glower. "You might want to consider following orders the next time."

Leo stared at him, stunned. When he realized that he had really said what he said, he scoffed softly. "Gee, Chase," he said with a smirk as he put away the simulation goggles, "for a teenage genius, you sure did get yourself fooled into thinking that real life always plays by the rulebook. And that I'll just take that kind of talk from you."

"Guys, please. Stop," Donald said before the situation could get worse. "The point of this whole exercise was to see how adaptable the five of you, as a team, can be. When you go against Krane, you have to be united. If you're gonna succeed against him and his people, you cannot be fighting like this. Leo, you did well, but try your best to follow the direction given to you the next time. Chase is the mission leader for a reason. And Chase, you were right; your directives should've been followed. But you have to realize, too, that at times the result is more important than the details. You have gone on many missions before. You know this."

He sighed. To the five teenagers he said, "I know it's not easy making this new arrangement work, but please – just try. Okay? With the responsibility that you all have now, you can't afford to be bickering like children. Do you understand?"

He was met with nods, a few hesitant. Leo nodded reluctantly, too, acknowledging that he had been out of line for what he said.

"Alright. Give us a minute to get your evaluations together," Donald said before joining his brother by the panel.

"Uh, you might want to wait on that, Donny. We've got an incoming call from the White House," Douglas said, standing up.

"The White House?" Leo asked in shock. After Douglas pressed answer, the screen on the wall showed the president's face holding a solemn expression.

"Davenport's, I hope all is well," he said.

A made grin came to Leo's face as he started stammering like an idiot. With the way he was acting, everyone thought he may pass out from excitement. Finally, he practically yelled, "You're the president!"

Surprised at the teenager's outburst, the president reeled back in his office. "Yes, and who might you be?"

Not giving him a chance to explain, Donald intervened. "That's Leo. He's helping us with the whole Krane problem, sir." Still seeing the confusion of the president's face, he sighed. "It's a long story. I'll be sure to explain later."

Nodding his head, the president got back into his formal position. "I'll remember that. I may have something that could help you with your search for Krane."

That got everyone's full attention, and snapped Leo out of his daze. "What, how?"

"Last night there was a break-in at the Pentagon. Fifteen million dollars' worth of satellite equipment was stolen, including the codes to activate the government's largest satellite."

"Do you think it was Krane?" Bree asked.

"I didn't know at first. But then, I saw the security footage." He turned his desktop's screen around, showing the team the picture on it. "Look familiar?"

On the screen was a teenage boy, looking no older than Bree. He was wearing a black leather jacket and dark jeans. He seemed to be commanding a number of other teenagers around. But that was not what everyone focused on.

What they focused on were his glowing green eyes.

"Soldiers," Chase mumbled as he stared at the photograph.

"Now I don't know what they're planning to do with these things, Davenport, but I'm positive it's not gonna be in everyone's best interest," the President told them. "Our people here are doing the best they can to prepare for the worst, but we still need your help. This needs to be prevented before it spins out of control. Can I count on you and your children to do that?"

Donald nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Good. We appreciate it," the President replied. "I will be checking back in a few hours." He reached for the button to end the call, but before he did he gave Donald a look as he nodded subtly at Leo.

Donald knew what it meant— _I expect a full report on him soon._ He only nodded wearily in reply.

There was a click. Then, the video call was terminated.

"Let me guess. Krane's controlling all of those kids with his brain, too," Bree said with a sarcastic smile.

"It's looking like it," Donald responded.

"Maybe that's why he has all of those extra wires on his face. He has so many kids to keep under control," Daniel mused.

Adam grins. "Ah, the joy of parenthood."

"Well, if that's the case, then how can we locate those kids?" Chase asked. "If we don't even know how to find Krane, how can we find _them_?"

"Shouldn't be too hard. When I created the Triton app, I included tracking elements in it," Douglas said as he typed in a command on the panel. After a moment, he victoriously declared, "Got 'em. Pike's Crest. Looks like these kids are in some kind of junkyard."

Leo narrowed his eyes. "Okay, what is it with this guy and junkyards?"

Douglas' brows hitched. "Don't ask me. He's got to be the only cheapskate billionaire I know."

"Is there any way of knowing how many bionic thugs Krane has in his camp?" Donald asked.

"I can check, but if their bionics are anything like Miss-Appear's back in our makeshift detention room, then there's no way of accurately telling," Douglas said.

"Right. If that's the case, Chase, you and the team's gonna have to go check out the badlands first. Krane's just officially declared a full-on brawl, but before we go into this we need to know what we're getting ourselves into," Donald said. He thought about the next call he was about to make after Chase nodded, and soon he arrived at a move that was for the best but was certainly not gonna be pleasing to everyone in the team. "You call the shots," he told his son.

Chase only stared, surprised at first, but realized there was not much time to lose in wondering. "We'll do as you said, Mr. Davenport. Go out and spy. I'll take a team."

"Oh, cool! We all get to go!" Adam said excitedly.

"I said _a_ team," Chase said, looking pointedly at his brother. For a brief second, he redirected that glower to the newest member. Leo didn't miss it. "We can't all go. Five is too many and too reckless. Two people need to stay behind."

Adam raised his hand. "I volunteer."

"No. I need you out there with us, in case something unexpected comes up," Chase said. "It's gonna be you, me, and Bree."

"What? I'm gonna sit this one out?" Daniel protested.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you go with us. It's gonna be dangerous. We need you on standby," Chase told his younger brother apologetically.

"Chase – you don't have to protect me all the time."

"I know. I don't have to, but I want to. You're my brother. I have to keep you safe." Chase then smiled a small smile at him. "Plus, you're our only ace in the deck. We can't put you into play until it's the right time."

Watching the two brothers melted away some of the frustration Leo had towards the mission leader. The guy may dislike him to the core for some unknown reason, but he wasn't as rude and mean as he had thought him to be. For him to care this much about a younger sibling, it must mean that there was a lot of good in him.

The doors to the simulation room hissed open as the three seasoned bionic teenagers hurried out. Once they were gone, the four of them were left in absolute silence.

Now if only he could figure out why Chase was always so bent on excluding him, Leo was sure this mission would go much better, much faster, and a lot less awkward than how it had these past few days.

* * *

 _to be continued._


	8. Chapter Eight

_Thank you to Susz, EmeraldTulip, Ice 88, and ShadowDragon1553 for your reviews! Apologies for the delay in update. That was my fault._

* * *

 ** _Chapter Eight._**

The place looked deserted. The only areas not covered in dirt had patches of dead grass sticking out of it. Old barrels were scattered throughout. The few trees there housed dark birds that made Adam, Bree, and Chase feel like wherever they were, they were being watched.

They had tracked the Triton App's coordinates to the center of Pike's Crest. So far, though, there were no soldiers to be seen.

Finally, Adam had enough. "Ugh...where are they?"

Chase, out of panic, quickly covered his brother's mouth. "Shh! Do you want us to be caught?"

"If it'll get us out of here faster, then yes," Adam said, prying Chase's hand off his mouth.

"Adam, focus. We have to find out where Krane's army is and what they are doing."

Truth be told, though, Chase was staring to get annoyed too. They've been out on Pike's Crest for over two hours, and so far they haven't found anything on Krane or the soldiers. The thought that the tracking element Douglas had spoken of may have been flawed crossed his mind several times already. It was possible that with the update their nemesis had done with the app, some useful features of it (at least to them) had been done away with. Maybe what the program had picked up were random signals that it had mistaken as ones coming from bionic chips.

"I don't know, Chase," Bree told him quietly. "This stakeout is going nowhere. We can use our time better than just sitting here."

"We can't just leave. What if the moment we do, they show up? We need information before we try to bring Krane and his camp down," Chase said. "We can't go in blind."

Bree sighed. "I know," she said.

"Wait, how about this," Adam proposed, "Bree and I go back to the house to keep training with Daniel and Leo, and you stay here? Then you call us when someone shows up. Sounds good? Okay, bye."

"Get back here," Chase commanded, pulling his older brother back as he tried to leave their hiding spot. "No one's going to leave, okay? We're staying here. We have evidences that someone is building camp. We just have to wait a little bit longer."

"But why?" Adam whined. "Why can't we just destroy all of these things that are here? Then we don't have to worry about waiting for Krane and his teenage goons anymore."

"And what, risk getting caught? What if they suddenly show up? They could be waiting to ambush whoever tries to mess with their equipment. Then we'd be in serious trouble," Chase said. "Plus, the system set up is obviously incomplete. They're minor parts to a bigger machine. No use expending energy on trying to get rid of things that can be easily replaced."

Adam threw his head back in expression of his frustration and boredom. Meanwhile, Bree just rolled her eyes. "Do we have to wait for two more hours? 'Cause if we do I'm turning myself in," she said.

"Me, too," Adam said. "Let's just wait for Daniel and Leo to come save us."

Chase scoffed. "Yeah, if Krane lets you live long enough to be saved. If I'm not mistaken, his original plan was to do away with us," he said, performing another thermal scan around the area for anything or anyone unseen. Then, somewhat bitterly, he added, "And it wouldn't be a good idea for the two of them to come here."

"You have to stop treating Daniel like he's a child, Chase," Bree said. "He may just be thirteen, but you need to give him credit. Do you know how frustrating it is for someone to always shield him from everything all the time?"

"He's not who I'm worried about."

Adam and Bree only stared at him. When they understood, Bree looked at her older brother for help.

"You gotta ease off on the kid, Chasey," Adam said. "You've been mean to him. You have to play nice."

"Who says I have to?" Chase said evenly as he continued his scan.

"You don't have to, but you usually do," Adam returned. "I mean, I get that you're frustrated because there's a new bionic kid. Believe me, we're frustrated, too. Especially me. I've got to keep up with all eight of us now."

Bree narrowed her eyes at him. "Adam, there are only five of us," she pointed out.

Adam thought about it. "No, I'm pretty sure there are eight of us," he said. Then, counting with his fingers he said, "There's me, you, and Chase. That's three. Then there's Daniel, and Leo…then there's Chase, you and me." He held up eight fingers. "That's eight."

Both of his siblings only darted bewildered looks towards him. "You counted the three of us twice," Bree said.

Adam frowned at his fingers. "I did?" he asked. "Wait. Let me start all over."

Bree placed a hand over her older brother's hands to stop him from counting again. "The point is," she looked at Chase, "you're not the only one who got thrown off by this whole situation. Even Leo's confused. It's gotta be harder for him. Can you imagine waking up one day with your life being turned upside down completely? From what I'm seeing, he doesn't like this new change any more than we do."

When Chase didn't answer, even refusing to look at them, Adam started to understand. Nodding his head as a grin came to his face, he said, "Oh, I get it. Yeah. You don't trust the new guy because you think he's just gonna be like Marcus."

"That has nothing to do with this."

"Oh, it has _everything_ to do with it," Adam disagreed. "Dude, you gotta realize that not all new people that come to our lives are like him. How are you going to make friends if you keep suspecting people like that?"

"Please. I can make friends easily."

"Really. Name one person you've befriended and who's stayed your friend these past two years."

Chase thought about it desperately. "Well, uh, there's…there's the guy in the club that I joined last, um…"

"Exactly. You can't remember anyone because there's never been one." Adam chuckled. "You gotta stop being so uptight, Chase."

"I'm not uptight," Chase said defensively.

"Right. Because you didn't just get into an argument with Leo just two hours ago over a plan that didn't fall through exactly as you thought it should," Adam said sarcastically.

Chase sighed; he was right. Still, he felt that he had a good reason to do what he did, something that did not have anything to do with what he was being accused of. "He's different," he said. "He doesn't listen. He does whatever he wants. He's too unpredictable, and unpredictable, if left uncontrolled, could get us killed."

"Uncontrolled? Chase, this is a human being we're talking about. He shouldn't be controlled, just like how the four of us shouldn't be," Bree pointed out.

"That's not…" Chase sighed, sitting back down behind their hiding spot. "That's not what I meant," he clarified. "I just mean that he goes off on his own, and it would be really helpful if he listens to what I say."

"How could he listen if you don't give him any reason to?" Adam asked. "All you've done since he came is give him these funny looks, like you're expecting him to mess up even if he hadn't done anything yet. You can't be ordering him around all the time, because then he'd think you're just a bossy pants who blows a fuse every time he does something wrong – which he will because he's the newbie."

"Adam's right," Bree said kindly. "Stop using fear to earn his respect because that's not gonna work. If the three of us get mad at you whenever you go over the top, how much more so this person who doesn't know why you do the things you do?"

Chase said nothing, but even if he didn't he did consider the things that they had said. He was inclined to reevaluate his views on the newcomer when the sound of mists bursting somewhere nearby called to their attention.

"What was that?" Adam asked.

"Over here," Bree called over, hiding behind a group of barrels. "You guys have to see this."

Cautiously, the two boys snuck over to their sister's hiding place – and were certainly surprised at what they saw. In the clearing had to be one hundred soldiers walking around and dozens more geo-leaping by the second. Most of them were carrying different machine parts, while others were working on a giant dish in the middle of the area.

"There must be hundreds of soldiers here," Chase said, shocked.

"S-1 wasn't kidding when she said there was an army," Adam said.

"Guys, how can we beat all of these bionics? It's going to be seven against..." she paused to look back at the clearing. "...them." Chase didn't have an answer for his sister. The only thing he could do was stare, horrified by what he was seeing.

"Soldiers, gather around!" Adam, Bree, and Chase turned to the other end of the clearing and saw Krane walking to the satellite dish, the black hood drawn over his head obscuring his face from view. "The time for revenge has come! The world has wronged us for what they have done! They have isolated our kind, treat us like scum, and turn us into this!"

As he said it, he removed his hood, making the team stifle a gasp. The area around of his mouth was covered in burns, so much that his lips were almost nonexistent. His scalp was incredibly bruised, and his eyes were bloodshot. Some of the circuits on his face were sticking out in weird directions, giving off some mild sparks. Chase reasoned it must have been a side effect of when Leo fried his circuitry.

"I have told you the plan. We must move fast. Phase one starts at 0600 hours. Soldiers, you're dismissed." Krane started to head off, before stopping and turning to one of his soldiers. When Chase looked closely at the soldier, he realized it was the one on the video who was controlling the other soldiers. "Oh, and S-3; please get rid of our little spies."

Adam, Bree, and Chase all shot up at that, shocked that Krane knew they were watching. "Maybe he didn't mean us," Adam whispered.

"Oh, yes he did." Quickly turning around, they saw that S-3 was standing right behind them, eyes glowing their mechanical green. Behind him was a speed trail, which was obviously how he got behind them so fast.

Panicking, the three stepped backwards. "Adam, quick, use your blast wave." Following the order, Adam charged a small blast wave at S-3, knocking the teenager down. Seeing him fall, Bree grabbed her brothers and sped away before he could get up or reinforcements could come.

S-3 got up as more soldiers came over hearing the commotion. Smirking, he spoke. "Get ready, bionic brothers and sisters. The bionic war has begun."

. . .

 _So bummed u couldn't make it, man. They paraded us in front of the people here like choice cattle_

A small, sad grin pulled on Leo's lips after he read the message. He typed, _How nice,_ then sent it. After he did, he glanced around Adam's capsule which he had been allowed to use to take a much needed long nap. The light expression on his face vanished when he realized that maybe he didn't miss the feeling Xavier spoke of after all. He was in a life size display case, and he would have to be in one every night for the rest of his life.

 _I think Natalie's gonna cry if u 2 get awarded d Mr. Roboto awards_

 _No, I'll probably die of embarrassment,_ Natalie texted, joining the group conversation. _Y Mr. Calloway would choose that name, idk_

Ten minutes later, after Leo had closed his eyes to get more rest, his phone buzzed again. _NATALIE'S CRYING,_ Xavier texted, adding five cry-laughing emojis in the end.

Leo laughed. _Send me a video!,_ he said.

 _Ok, got it. I'll send it to you tonight. Mom just gave me d death glare, need 2 put phone away._ Then, he ended with, _Really wish u could b here, dude._

 _Yeah. I do, too,_ Leo thought sadly before pocketing his phone.

"Is your mom checking in on you now?"

Leo looked up and found Daniel looking back at him by the smaller desk on the corner. He shook his head. "No, uh, my friends were just catching me up on what's happening," he explained. "It's our senior awards night tonight, and I'm missing all the fun."

"Oh. Sorry," Daniel said sympathetically.

Leo heaved a sigh. "Yeah, me, too," he said.

Daniel turned his attention back to the screen in front of him. As he moved the mouse around, he commented, "Northside High. I don't think I've ever been there before. I know our basketball team and track team have played against you guys."

"Yeah, our varsity basketball's not very good this year," Leo said.

"Track's good, though."

"Yeah. They're one of our bests."

"Must be nice being a senior," Daniel said. "You get to be the big guys on campus."

"We get to be lazy, actually," Leo said with a grin. "Senioritis. We all got it bad."

Daniel chuckled. Then, with a sad smile he said, "Man, if only I get to experience that. My chances are gone now. I don't think we'd get to have a normal high school life anymore." He looked at Leo and sincerely said, "Sorry this training ruined an experience for you."

Leo didn't respond. Although, he did appreciate it.

Daniel spoke again. "You know, Chase is not as bad as you probably think he is," he said. "He's actually a really great guy."

Leo scoffed. "Yeah, because all my friends try to ostracize me and act like I don't matter."

Daniel didn't look amused. "I'm serious. I know he may seem abrasive at times, but he only has what he thinks is everyone's best interest in mind."

Leo gave a deadpan expression. "Then why does he think it's in everyone's best interest I'm kept on the back-burner?"

"I never said he actually knew what was in everyone's best interest." Daniel said, smirking. Leo sighed, walking off to sit down at the cyber-desk. His smirk falling, Daniel walked over to the older boy. "You know, Chase used to treat me the same exact way he's treating you."

Leo looked up from his phone. "Really?"

"Yeah. You don't know this, but my dad and I weren't always good guys. Two years ago, when Adam, Bree, and Chase were first starting out in the real world, my dad was a villain. When my siblings and I were babies, Uncle Donald took Adam, Bree, and Chase when he learned my dad wanted to use us as weapons. But my dad still wanted all his kids with him, so he sent me and an android named Marcus to try and abduct them.

"Well, we almost succeeded, but Chase knew something was off with us and tried to keep us away. Even when we tried to stop Krane and joined the team, he didn't trust us at first. On all our missions, he either made me stay behind or do meaningless tasks. I didn't get it; Adam, Bree, and Uncle Donald trusted us. Why wouldn't he?"

"Wow." Leo was shocked at the blond-haired boy's story. "How did you guys ever bury the hatchet?"

"I stood up for myself." Daniel explained, "After we went on this one mission, I just told him the truth. I told him I was getting tired of him treating me like I'm a bad person. Can't remember the rest, but I do remember saying that his suspicions will never change the fact that Dad and I have changed, and if he can't respect that then it's his loss. It was a pretty nasty fight. Dad and I almost left, but then Chase realized that it wasn't how he wanted things to go so he apologized and started involving me more and more. He tried to spend more time with me, too. He helped me a lot with getting familiar with my abilities after it was activated."

"I mean, that sounds good, but I'm pretty sure the problem we have between us is not going to be resolved as easily as yours did," Leo said. "For one, I'm not his brother. He doesn't feel like he needs to be friends with me. I'm only here until Krane's gone. After that, I'm out. And two, the last time I stood up to him, it only made the situation worse." He shrugged. "Hate to break it to you, man, but your brother and I are too at odds with each other to ever be friends. I don't think that's gonna happen."

Daniel chuckled. "Actually, I think you guys being too alike is the problem," he said.

Leo frowned. "Huh?"

"You're a smart guy who has great plans and is willing to take risks. You're the younger, more daring version of him," Daniel pointed out. "And, you've only been with us for a few days, yet Adam, Bree, and I really like you."

"You guys do?"

"Yeah. I guess that's where the problem is. Chase is probably worried that you're another person who's trying to do something against us, kind of like what we did to them. He doesn't trust you."

"Well, that part is clear."

"Still, that doesn't make him a bad person. He's just trying to protect us. The thing about Chase is that he's a worrier. He worries about everything and everyone." Daniel smiled. "Like I said, he's a good guy. If you really can't be friends, then just try your best to get along with him."

"Not very easy when he's always so critical."

"I know, but try anyways. For the team."

Leo said nothing else. He still felt the same regarding their mission leader's treatment of him, but now he was moved to at least be more understanding. Sacrificing something of himself was a part of the job that he undertook. If it meant his pride, only for a little while, then so be it. He could manage.

Donald and Douglas walking in to the lab caught both of the boys' attention. Puzzled, Daniel asked, "Where's S-1, Dad?"

"Quarantine Room. She's tired, so we let her go to sleep," Douglas said, swiping through the information displayed on his tablet.

"Has your siblings come back yet?" Donald asked him.

"No, not yet. I wonder what's taking them so long," Daniel said, looking up at his uncle.

"They shouldn't have taken so long to do a simple recon mission," Donald said, thinking. "Let me try and contact them on their com set.."

"No need to," a voice said from the back tunnel. Turning, they saw Adam, Bree, and Chase come in, all looking exhausted.

"Guys, what took so long? And why do you look like...that?" Daniel said, gesturing to their fatigued figures.

Ignoring his little brother, Chase went over to his dad. "Mr. Davenport, S-1 wasn't lying. There are hundreds of bionic soldiers under Krane's control. They are all working on some giant satellite dish."

"This is not good. They must be using that dish to project the Triton App somehow. How close did they look to being finished?"

"The dish was almost complete. They just had to add a few more components."

"What are we going to do? There's no way we can go against all those soldiers at once," Bree said to her father worriedly.

"We don't have any choice. We're the only ones who can stop them." Donald pondered over it heavily, taking into consideration the situation, as well as the advantages and disadvantages presented to them. Coming to a conclusion, he said, "We have to destroy all of those equipment. Tonight."

"What?" Adam said.

"I know it's dangerous, but we can't lose the chance that we have. Once everything is up and ready, there's no stopping Krane," Donald said. "You four, get in your capsules. If we're gonna go against them, we have to amp up all of your abilities. Leo, do you still have the blueprint of the EMP blaster you and your friend made?"

"Yes."

Donald nodded. "Can you and Douglas get it? I'm sure we have the parts needed somewhere here to build two of those for me and Douglas. Maybe Bree can put them together," he said.

"Alright." Leo followed as Douglas led the way to the garage, but not without one last look at his teammates. They were on their way out of their capsules, with Daniel now changed into a dark suit similar to his brothers'. The sight sank his heart to the pit of his stomach. All of these moves they were making were gradually and unstoppably bringing to life the reality of going on this mission. Unlike the simulation, whatever happened tonight would be permanent. No getting safely kicked out of the game, and no backing out.

Blindly, he walked away. He was too anxious to pay attention to anything else.

"Kid, relax."

Leo looked at Douglas as they sat in the car, waiting for the garage doors to fully come up.

"You're not gonna be there alone. All of us will be there with you," the inventor promised him.

Leo silently took a deep breath as he kept those words in mind. All the preparation had come down to this. It wasn't the time to lose courage or to doubt. Lives were on the line. Tonight, they need to be the torches that would set that horrid plan ablaze.

And as it burned to ashes, he would have to face the monster in his nightmares one last time.

* * *

 _to be continued._


	9. Chapter Nine

_Thanks, Susz and EmeraldTulip, for the reviews!_

 _Updates would come more frequently in the near future. :)_

* * *

 ** _Chapter Nine._**

Resting under the darkest night, the grounds at Pike's Crest was unusually silent when they arrived. A stiff breeze blew over the valley, and only the sound of a loose hinge squeaking in the distance could be heard. It was unsettling, especially so to Adam, Bree, and Chase. They were just there barely an hour ago. The place was ruled with much activity and was teeming with those bionic teenagers then. Now, it was eerily empty. It was as if everything they saw was only a dream.

"All of them were here," Bree said, looking around in confusion. "I don't get it."

Adam shrugged. "Maybe they got tired. I know I did," he offered, earning a glare from Chase.

"Where did you say the satellite was, Chase?" Donald asked as he kept a good grip on the EMP blaster Bree had quickly constructed for them.

"It's farther down, towards the east side."

"Okay. Douglas and I will be heading there now. You split your team apart, and have a group cover us."

"Alright."

Donald gestured for Douglas to follow. However, before they got too far, he gave Chase a look, urging him to consider involving Leo more than he'd had previously. After he knew it was received, he left with his brother.

Chase did see that look, but now, with all the dangers facing them, he wasn't inclined to heed it. He knew his older siblings had asked him to be kinder and understanding, so he would be. He would assign the new member of their team the kindest, most insightful choice of tasks that he could for him. "Adam, Daniel, you two go with Mr. Davenport and Douglas," he instructed. "Bree, let's go check the rest of the junkyard for any of the soldiers. Leo, keep your com set on at all times. Stay here, and keep on the lookout."

A smirk of disbelief pulled at Leo's mouth as he scoffed.

"Oh, come on, Chase."

"No," Chase told Adam firmly. He glared at Leo. "I need him to stay here."

Adam hesitated. He exchanged glances with Bree and Daniel, but they knew there was no time to waste on a disagreement. So, reluctantly, they left to do as they were told.

 _The nerve of that guy,_ Leo thought as he crossed his arms once they were all gone. It disappointed him to think that he got worked up for nothing. He wondered then if taking the inventor's invitation had been the best choice. It seemed like he wasn't needed there anyways. However, instead of stewing in resentment, he decided to fulfill his task. Maybe something interesting would come up, or at least something distracting to take his mind off his admittedly sad lot in life at that moment.

. . .

Chase was looking through a few random crates around the junkyard. He hasn't found out anything really useful yet, only a number of spare parts that didn't look like they had any importance. There was no sign of any of the soldiers, and that made him feel even more uneasy.

He felt a gush of wind behind him. Bristling slightly, he looked behind, ready to fight. But he instantly relaxed seeing it was only Bree. "Dang it, Bree. Give a guy some warning first."

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," Bree said. "Anyway, I ran all around Pike's Crest. The bionic soldiers aren't anywhere around here. I think they might have ditched this place when they saw us spying."

"That doesn't make sense, though," Chase said. "Why would they leave all of their work behind?"

"I don't know," Bree said. She then looked at the crates. "You find anything in the boxes?"

"Nothing really. Only nuts and bolts so far. This is the last one around." Chase said rummaging through the one in front of him, somewhat frustratingly.

"Oh cool." They were both silent for a minute, the only sound being the items being moved around. "Don't you think you were a little hard on Leo?"

Chase stopped, sighing. "Bree, we don't have time for this. We have to find out where Krane and his army are."

Bree crossed her arms. "When will you ever have time?" she asked. "You know, if you'd been as good as dodging dodgeballs as you are dodging questions about Leo, high school probably would have gone much better for you."

Chase rolled his eyes. "I'm not dodging anything. The situation's just too complicated right now for something trivial like this."

"Whatever you say." Bree smiled a small smile before asking, "Has it ever occurred to you that if things worked out well for Mr. Davenport and Tasha, Leo would have become your little brother? Stepbrother, technically, but younger brother still?"

"Well, things didn't, and he's not," Chase muttered, annoyed that they were still on the topic. "Why're you bringing up a hypothetical situation?"

Bree shrugged. "No reason. I'm just thinking, things have a funny way of working out. You never know. Maybe the guy you're trying to exclude might just turn out to be one of your closest friends one day. You know, someone you'll count on to have your back."

Chase scoffed. "Doubt it. The guy's probably gonna be off in college somewhere when that one day comes," he said. "He's made it evident many, many times that he's not staying after this."

Bree stared at him searchingly for a moment. Then, a grin borne from a sudden realization pulled at the edges of her mouth. "Oh, no," she said, barely restraining her laughter. "How come I didn't see this before?"

"What."

"Not only do you not trust him, but… Are you really jealous?"

"Oh, please. Jealous? Of what?"

"You really want me to give you the list?"

Chase huffed. "Can we just please get back to what we're supposed to be doing?" he asked. "We've got the mystery of the missing soldiers to figure out."

"Consider it solved." When Chase and Bree spun around, they saw the boy Krane called S-3 standing before them, a small group of teenage bionics with eyes glowing a mechanical green standing by with him. S-3 smirked. "Now, how about we reintroduce each other, properly this time?"

With just one glance, it was clear to Chase and Bree that they were outnumbered, something tactically disadvantageous for them. However, they had been prepared, and the thought that they would be capable of much more than before gave them the courage they needed to take on the challenge.

. . .

"Wow, for something that was built in such a hurry, it certainly gives over a certain level of pizzazz, huh Donnie?" Douglas asked while inspecting the satellite. The two geniuses had found where Chase said it was and were currently trying to find a way to deactivate it before Krane and his army came back.

"Yeah, it totally adds 'pizzazz' to a psychopath's plot to take over the world," Donald said dryly, obviously more focused on how they would dismantle it so it couldn't be put back together.

Looking at his brother, Douglas sighed. "You know, you can really take the fun out of being a good guy." Donald didn't answer, instead trying to find some weak point in the massive structure. After waiting a minute, the younger brother gave up on getting a response and started to find something they could use to their advantage.

They must have only been there five more minutes before Douglas spoke again. "There's no weak spot we can exploit. Whatever we do right now, Krane can rebuild faster."

"Keep looking, we have to find something. Check the base, check the cables, check every screw; we can't give up," Donald said to his younger brother before again looking at the base.

Douglas, though, looked down at his older brother, feeling pity for him. "Hey, don't worry. I know Adam, Bree, and Chase will be fine. Just like I know Daniel will be fine. We've got Leo to help us. We won't lose."

Donald was quiet for another minute. Then he sighed, and said barely above a whisper, "That's not what I'm worried about." When Douglas frowned, he explained, "I just feel terrible for Leo. It seems like we're using him as a pawn to get what we want."

"Well, he agreed to it," Douglas reasoned.

"He agreed to _help_ us, Douglas, not to be treated like trade-in," Donald said.

"That's not what I meant."

"No, I know what you mean. I know what you're saying. Still, he's in a pretty terrible situation. The kids don't really interact with him very well, and he suddenly got thrown into this."

"We're in tough times, Donnie," Douglas said. He shrugged. "You can't expect him to have a blast when none of us are having fun either."

Donald then withdrew to his own thoughts for a moment. Then he asked, a hint of apology in his tone, "If something happens to you, and Daniel finds himself surrounded by people he doesn't know, and they treat him the way we treat Leo, how would you feel?"

Douglas' brows lightly wrinkled as he pondered over it.

Donald then resumed his work, but distractedly so. He thought about Tasha and the unspoken promise he made to her to protect her son. He thought about Leo. He thought about the teenager's father, how he would view the choices being made with regards to his son. Donald realized then that he hadn't been living up to good standards. He could've done better.

He resolved then to make things right after all was over.

 **. . .**

Leo resisted the urge to hum as a song he'd heard in the radio once played in his head. He thought it was odd how recently, random songs and images would pop in his mind as if he was intercepting them, but he figured long ago that they were just the results of having an overactive imagination. After being constantly casted off into security detail, he had learned how to be creative with his time.

Crossing his arms to shield himself from the weather, he looked up at the stars. They were all spread out evenly above the partially clouded skies and looked as beautiful as ever. He smiled when he remembered his question to his mother many years ago after they were finally able to put together the telescope she got for him: _How big is the galaxy?_

 _It's really big._

 _How?_

 _Well, let's just say that if Earth is as big as this little pebble, the nearest galaxy is about, hmm, a few states over._

 _Really?_

 _Uh-huh. But baby, even if Earth is small in comparison to the other stars and planets, and even if we're all as small as specks of dust on our little pebble, don't ever think for one moment that you do not matter, because you do. You're always going to be someone that the universe has never seen before._

Leo looked down at the ground beneath his feet. Even if he didn't say it often, he had always known his mother was intelligent. Very caring, too, because she always explained things in a way that put himself and everything and everyone around him in the right perspective. As he thought about that, he looked around him, imagining how the universe would look like if he saw the stars laid out like a map on a table.

His attention was suddenly caught by a number of wirings at the foot of what appeared to be a shed. The bundle was unassuming, but there was something about it that made him curious. He followed the line with his eyes. It was connected to something inside and went around where it eventually vanished into an opening below the wire fences of the junkyard.

Leo took a quick look around. He knew Chase had told him to stay there and keep watch, and he knew Mr. Davenport had told him to listen to Chase, but his gut was telling him that not investigating the wirings could do more harm than help. So, going against what he had been told, after making sure that there were no bionic soldiers around, he left his post.

As he got closer to the shed, a massive headache overwhelmed him. He was only ten feet from his starting point when he had to stop, wincing in pain. When he closed his eyes, he heard a loud buzzing noise, and then it was gone. He slowly opened his eyes – and was shocked at what he saw. The previously moonlit ground was now glowing. Waves were radiating off the wires, all different colors. Looking at the ones leading to the dish, he saw they were yellow. Looking ahead of him, the wires to the shed were red.

 _What the heck_ , Leo thought. _What's going on?_ He looked at the wires around him and saw the boxes of technology were also glowing. In the distance, there was a blue glow. Then, he blinked, and everything went back to normal.

He was still for a minute, having no idea what he just saw. He was about to question it some more until he heard a sound of mist. Looking behind him, he ducked out of the way, seeing two soldiers appear, looking the opposite direction. He waited inside the shed as the two scanned their surroundings then spoke in low voices to each other. After coming to an agreement, the pair jogged away.

Leo expelled a breath of relief. For a moment, he was glad that he wasn't at the forefront of this battle. He wasn't sure he could take on any of those mentally-controlled teenagers just yet, especially with the sudden lightshow that flashed before his eyes and vanished just as fast. "Guys, there are two coming your way. They're heading west—No, south. Whatever. They're heading left from where I was standing," he reported into his com set while taking another good look at the coast outside. Satisfied, he turned his attention to what was inside the shed. "I don't think they saw me, but I did have to move. Let me know what you guys need me to do."

That no response came was lost on Leo. He was preoccupied with what the faint glow from the moon outside was revealing. Attached on the wall in the back, nearly obscured by many other wirings and equipment, was something he had seen in a tech show some time ago. Before taking a closer look, he quickly shut the door of the shed in case one of the soldiers came back. He then drew out a small flashlight from his pocket, one of the very few 'gears' he had grabbed before they left the lab, and then shone it on the object.

He investigated it for a moment and determined that unlike the others, that one was functioning. With the low whirs emitting from it, he knew it was being used. He racked his brain for what it was—until it came to him. _It's a DCE! Yeah, that's it,_ he thought triumphantly. He frowned. _But why would one of these things be here?_

As he tried to recall the use for the equipment, the same faint, neon waves gradually appeared before his eyes again. Though it came painlessly this time, he still didn't appreciate their presence. Closing his eyes tightly he muttered, "No, no, no. Please no. Please don't tell me I'm the broken one in the bunch. I really can't do this right now." He shook his head firmly. Then, hoping the intangible strings of light would be gone, he opened his eyes.

Nothing. The only light he could see was coming from his flashlight.

 _Good,_ he thought. _Mr. Davenport's gonna have to fix this later._ Resuming his search, he remembered the details Adam, Bree, and Chase had given them. _If there's a satellite involved, and Krane needs it to amplify the reach of his control, then that must mean…That must mean he's using this DCE for the uplink,_ he thought. _If Mr. Davenport and Douglas can't get close enough to destroy the actuator or the feed horn, this may be the next best thing we've got._

With this, he decided to take out the laser pen he had found in the selection they were given earlier. Since he wasn't quite sure what each cable was for, he was going to sever all of them just to be safe. After transferring the flashlight on the other hand, he began cutting the cables.

Once he was done, Leo pocketed the pen and grinned. "Well. That was easy," he said. As he looked upon his work with approval, he neglected to notice the figure that had opened the door of the shed, walking in quietly and ready to attack. While the soldier was standing right behind him, he was making sure all the wires were dead. Looking at one, he was unprepared from an unexpected shock coming from the end.

"Ow," Leo said, dropping the wires and the flashlight. "And that must have been the power cord," he deadpanned. Bending down and turning around, he went to grab his flashlight. Except, he stopped cold seeing the light showing a pair of black sneakers.

Looking up, Leo jumped up at seeing who was in front of him. It was a Hispanic boy, looking about Leo's age. He was wearing a black shirt with a gray vest, and black jeans. But, Leo didn't focus on any of that; he just saw the mechanical green eyes. And he widened his eyes seeing the green turning red.

Jumping out of the way, he barely dodged the laser blast, making it hit the DCE instead. Looking at the machine in surprise, he didn't notice his foe's eyes turning red again. "Dude, you know you just hurt your own cause, right?" Laughing a bit, he was surprised when he felt a searing pain in his shoulder.

Looking at it, he saw that the laser ripped a hole in his new jacket. Thankfully it only grazed him, though it did hurt a lot. While he was distracted, though, the boy made his move. Doing a sweep kick, he caused Leo to fall on his back.

As soon as he got his bearings, Leo sat up, but the decreasing distance between him and the other bionic made getting back to his feet nearly impossible. He scooted back as he thought of ways to remedy his dire situation but soon he hit a wall. Now cornered, he was faced with the reality that he would have to use his bionics against someone to defend himself.

However, just as the mass of energy was starting to gather within his palm, a blast wave from behind the soldier went off. The sufficient impact hit the teenager squarely on the back, causing him to fall to the ground, unconscious.

Stunned, Leo looked up from the boy to the person that saved him.

Adam smirked. "Gotta learn how to watch your back, man," he said. He walked over to the newest member of their team then offered him a hand.

After taking it and getting back up, Leo said, "Thanks. He creeped up on me. I was doing something."

Adam shrugged. "It happens. Just be more careful next time," he said. He nudged him. "Now come on. You need to get back to your post before Chase finds out you left."

Leo frowned. "I reported over the com set that I had to leave because of the soldiers that showed up."

"Oh, you did?" Adam tilted his head thoughtfully. "I don't know. I didn't hear it. Then again I was busy thinking what I'm gonna eat tonight if the world hasn't ended yet. I'm starving."

Leo stared at the oldest boy but soon decided that it was not a topic worth pursuing.

As Adam led the way, Leo was moved to glance back at the unmoving figure on the ground. He was still breathing, so that meant that the blast wasn't fatal. Not that he expected it to be; Adam was not like Krane. He and his family were concerned with preserving lives as much as possible, so they wouldn't do anything drastic in an act of defense.

He followed Adam out of the shed but had to stop soon after as he saw him standing still. "Ooh," Adam said under his breath with a slight wince.

Leo knew exactly why, for on the spot that he was assigned to earlier stood Douglas and a very angry Chase.

* * *

 _to be continued._


	10. Chapter Ten

_Another update as mentioned! Thank you to EmeraldTulip, Susz, and Guest for the reviews._

* * *

 ** _Chapter Ten._**

The four heroes just stood still for a minute. Leo was looking with wide eyes at Chase, Adam had a nervous grin on his face, Douglas was looking at the ground, not liking what was going to happen, and Chase just glared daggers at Leo. Finally, Leo couldn't take it anymore. "Chase, look, man, it's not what you think. I was—" Leo began, but was cut off by the irate boy genius.

"I gave you a direct order to stay here and keep a look out. But, you abandoned your station. And we were all attacked because you couldn't do your job." Pausing for a second, Chase walked over to the slightly younger boy. "What were you thinking?"

"Look, Chase, it's not like that," Leo said calmly though he had narrowed his eyes. "I was standing here, just like you said. But then two of the soldiers appeared behind me, so I went and hid."

"So you ran away. That totally makes up for bailing on us," Chase deadpanned.

At this, Leo got closer, his calm voice gaining volume. "It was more complicated than that. You assigned me alone, and I didn't want to be ambushed two-to-one. Even if I would have beaten them, the noise would have attracted more soldiers, and I would have been destroyed. I just did what I thought was best."

His eyes narrowing more, Chase spat out, "You thought wrong."

Hearing this, Douglas looked up, shocked at what his nephew said. "Chase, stop."

His words fell on deaf ears though. "I knew you weren't cut out for this. Because of you, Bree, Daniel, and Mr. Davenport are off fighting a battle we could have been prepared for. All because you are a coward."

Silence fell on the four. Then Adam spoke. "Ooh, you did not just go there." Everyone looked at the oldest sibling in annoyance, before staring back at the argument before them.

"Well, at least while you were thinking about ways I failed, I was actually doing something important."

Chase snarled at that, but also raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I found the data circuit-terminating equipment. I severed it, so the chances of Krane successfully uplinking anything to the satellite is probably not as good anymore," Leo responded.

"You really did?" Douglas asked. "How did you know what it was?"

"I've seen it somewhere before," Leo told him, but then bitterly, he said to Chase, "But it doesn't matter to you, does it? 'Cause I disobeyed you, and that's all you're ever going to see."

"That's all I'm ever going to see because your actions have consequences."

"I didn't sign up for this team to be your lapdog! You're forgetting the fact that I'm aware of the things you're aware of, too. I can think like you do. I'm fighting for _my_ family like you are. But no matter what I say, no matter what the truth is, you will always think I'm wrong, or that I'm the bad guy. You've fully convinced yourself of that, even when you don't know anything about me."

"I know you always use the good that you do as an excuse for your insubordination."

"Insubordination? Dude, do you even hear yourself? You sound just like Krane! You're starting to act like him! You're treating me like I'm one of your soldiers, like I have to act as you tell me to when you snap your fingers because that's what I'm supposed to do. You have a plan, and everybody else needs to fall in line."

"I'm not like Krane," Chase argued.

"You may not be evil like him, but you sure are getting pretty good at making it clear that I'm disposable, just like he did with S-1." Still fuming but working hard to maintain his calmness, Leo said, "Don't worry. Next time you assign me to a post and I get outnumbered, I'll stay there, just as you say. Then maybe afterwards, when things go south for me, you can have the honor of telling my mom that I finally got offed. That's what it takes to prove to you that I'm on the same team, right? As long as I don't come back from being almost dead because your dad and your uncle took pity on me and do something to save my life, that's good, isn't it?"

Chase glowered at him, his jaws locked and brows furrowed in anger.

"Look, guys, let's just chill about this, alright?" Adam intermediated. "As intriguing as this is, Bree, Daniel, and Mr. Davenport are still out there, probably getting whooped. We don't have time for this, so let's go."

Chase, though still brimming with words to say, decided to let it go for the moment and follow his older brother as he jogged away.

Douglas was also set to follow, but a thought caused him to stop momentarily and turn towards Leo.

He was unsure what to say, and Leo was able to tell through the thoughtful look on his face. "I know," he said quietly to the inventor. "Good job, follow orders, be more understanding. Mr. Davenport already told me." Then he began to walk away.

Douglas stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder. When he turned around, he said, "Good job, follow orders, but follow your instincts more. Be patient. Be smart. It will be over soon." He left after that.

. . .

Daniel panted, laboring hard to catch his breath after that last feat. Putting his hands on his hips, he gazed at the unconscious forms of the bionic soldiers scattered across the yard in disbelief. "I don't know about you, but I'm starting to _really_ dislike the sight of bionic teenagers," he told his sister.

Bree smirked. " _You're_ a bionic teenager, Daniel," she pointed out.

"I know. It's awful," he said, making his sister laugh. "That speed tornado was a good idea, though. How'd you come up with that?"

Bree shrugged. "TV show."

Daniel grinned, pointing at her. "Ah," he said. Bree only grinned.

"Have either of you seen the rest of our team?" Donald asked as he joined the two, his EMP blaster drawn up after encountering a group. He looked around the area and asked, "Where are they?"

"I haven't seen Adam since the soldiers started showing up," Daniel said, waiting to see if any soldiers would suddenly appear.

"And Chase disappeared when we took down S-3 and his goons," Bree added.

"Oh man, where are they? We need all the help we can get," Donald said. Aiming his gun, he fired it at two oncoming soldiers, successfully disabling them.

"Guys!" the three heard from their right. Turning, they saw Adam, Chase, Douglas and Leo heading towards them.

"There you four are. Where have you been?"

"Sorry, we had to deal with a...situation," Chase said, giving a look to Leo.

Donald noticed that. "What do you mean by a..." He wasn't able to finish, as ten more soldiers appeared around them.

Adam's shoulders sagged as he sighed. "Okay, can we call for a timeout? 'Cause this is just too much. I haven't even had dinner yet," he said.

"Uh, how are we gonna handle this?" Daniel asked as he stared wide-eyed at the teenagers drawing closer.

"Seven of us, ten of them." Chase smirked. "Shouldn't be too bad, right?"

Before anyone could answer, the ten began to attack. Each of them was lost in a flurry of defending themselves for the next few minutes. When everything had settled, they were the only ones left standing though their hearts and nerves pounded madly at the near misses.

"We really have to shut this whole thing down," Donald said as he gazed at the unconscious teenagers scattered around them. "Children shouldn't be forced to live like this."

Douglas smirked. "Well, they probably won't be," he said. Donald's brows furrowed in curiosity.

"The satellite will be going active in three minutes. We have to hurry," Chase reminded them.

"Right. It's this way." Then, Donald led the group, holding onto a desperate but improbable hope that the area would be as relatively empty as when he and his brother left it earlier.

However, that was shattered by the sight they came to when they arrived. Standing in between them was a barricade of bionic soldiers, poised to defend the satellite and Krane against anyone who would come too close. Unseeing, merciless eyes watched the seven of them as they stopped and took in the situation.

A cold smile pulled on Krane's mouth as he gazed at his enemies. From where he stood behind the laptop, the satellite ready a few feet behind him, the intruders' chances of succeeding was non-existent. "After the things that all of you have done, and it still came down to this," he said. "Isn't it pathetic? You nearly stopped me, and now the world is minutes away from falling into my hands."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Chase said.

"No? Look around you," Krane said, gesturing at his army. "You're outnumbered. What hope do you have in stopping me? Even if you can successfully get through them, by then, it would be too late." He looked at their faces, one by one, savoring the satisfaction of seeing how much they loathed him. However, the sight of an unexpected person in their camp temporarily took away the smirk on his face. "You lived," he told Leo. _No matter_ , he thought even though he was deeply puzzled. "You should've died. It would have been much better compared to what's coming."

Leo's hands balled into fists, his jaw locking as he remembered everything that Krane's actions have put him and his family through.

"Keep 'em at bay!" Krane commanded his soldiers as he finalized the program. "There's only one minute left."

Though the teenagers took a stronger stand out of compliance to him, Douglas, Adam, and Chase only looked at each other, not even the least bit inclined to make an effort to stop Krane. Seeing their reactions confused Donald, Daniel and Bree. "Guys, what are you doing? We only have a few seconds left! We need to get through to the satellite!" Donald said, the EMP blaster drawn up in front of him.

Chase crossed his arms as he defiantly turned his eyes towards Krane. "It's not necessary," he said, and it called to Krane's attention.

Douglas snickered as he saw the look on the bionic madman's face. He sighed contentedly before saying, "You're so busy telling us what almost didn't happen that you overlooked the fact that it already did." He nodded at the laptop. "When was the last time you checked your connection?"

The pure confidence on their faces caused Krane to doubt the surety of his plan, and he was moved to consult the systems involved.

As a shadow of defeat began to descend on Krane's face, Chase smiled a sly smile. "The equipment you need to uplink the Triton app's been destroyed, Krane. By the time you get a replacement, the satellite will be out of range – not that we'd let you get another chance," he said. "Give it up. You've lost. It's over."

Rage trickled then poured torrentially into Krane as he was forced to accept the unexpected failure of his plans. The timer was at zero, and the program was ineffective due to the absence of its necessary complimentary part. "No!" he thundered.

"Yes," Douglas said.

Krane fumed as he glowered at them. "Let. Them. Through," he commanded his soldiers in a low, stern tone. As the crowd parted, allowing the seven to have a clear access, he watched his enemies with fury. "You have fooled yourselves into thinking that stopping me will be easy."

"Well, the satellite was half of it. Our chances couldn't be as bad now," Adam replied.

His statement only went ignored. "Whatever you do, the world will always hate you. You should've seen that it's never gonna be worth saving," Krane said.

"To you it isn't, but to us it is. They may not like us, and that may never change, but we're not blind like you to the reality that there are people who would accept us for what we are." _You don't get it, do you? I don't care what your kids are._ Chase's heart sank in regret as he remembered what Tasha had said and as he thought of what Leo had done for him and his siblings. "There are some who even see us as people who are worth their lives," he added. He shook his head. "We will _never_ let you hurt them."

"So is that what this is, then? You view yourselves as beacons of hope? Don't you realize that they can turn around and rip everything away from you?" A foreboding chuckle bubbled from Krane as his anger was overturned by an idea. "Then maybe that's what I will do. Take away their light." He looked at Adam, Bree, Chase and Daniel. "If I can't control the world, then I'll control their heroes. That way they will have no choice but to submit to me."

Then, he clicked on a button in his laptop.

Leo screamed in agony when an unseen force suddenly hit him. He felt as if he had been hit on the skull by a sledgehammer. The pressure that continued to throb within his head caused him to collapse to the ground, clutching his head as he became oblivious of anything else but the pain.

"Leo!"

"I don't know what you think you're doing, Krane," Douglas said defensively after watching Donald come to Leo's side. "If you're trying to put Adam, Bree, and Chase under the Triton app, you might as well forget it. Their chips are blocked. They won't be affected by your updated program. It's not gonna work."

Krane stared at them, dreading for a brief moment that for the second time that night, he had failed. Then, something caught his attention that caused him to smile victoriously. "Oh, I think it just did," he said before nodding at the person standing in the middle of their group.

Following his gaze, Adam, Bree, Chase and Douglas looked. The familiar face that was once filled with courage and determination was now empty. His eyes were vacant, and his ears were unhearing.

"No," Bree breathed out, staring in horror. "Daniel."

Daniel looked up, and all they saw was the neon green glow.

* * *

 _to be continued._


	11. Chapter Eleven

_Huge thanks to Susz, EmeraldTulip, and Ice 88 for your reviews! They were very much appreciated._

* * *

 ** _Chapter Eleven._**

It felt as if his brain would explode. The nerves inside his skull were throbbing mercilessly. He could feel them, every inch of them. They were like hyperactive, overheated wires that could blow at any second. Though he had already closed his eyes, even in the darkness, he could see sparks of silver lights exploding.

It hurt so much that Leo wanted to die. At least then, everything would stop.

In the distance he heard voices. One of those belonged to Mr. Davenport. He was asking him what was happening, calling him to get his attention, but Leo couldn't answer. He was spending all of his strength combatting whatever it was that suddenly struck him. There were also faint, nearly inaudible words spoken by unfamiliar voices. They came in through waves of static noise that ebbed in and out constantly. He didn't know what was happening. It was scaring him.

He just wanted it to stop.

 _Take care of them,_ he heard Krane's command come in clearly from somewhere in the darkness.

The pressure behind his eyes tripled immediately.

 _Please,_ Leo begged. _Just stop._

 **. . .**

The four word directive caused Daniel to turn against his father and his older siblings. Slowly, the four took steps away from him. "Daniel, snap out of it," Chase ordered, staring at his little brother with much concern. "The Triton app doesn't control all of you. I know you can hear me. You can't let him tell you what to do."

Daniel stopped for a moment. The team paused, thinking that somehow Chase's words got through to the younger boy. Stepping forward, Chase went to see if the Triton App deactivated, unaware of his younger brother's eyes turning from green to red. It took the genius by surprise when Daniel shot out a laser, knocking him to the ground.

"Uh, Chase, I'm pretty sure he can," Adam said, getting an annoyed look from Chase.

"Nice try, boy," Krane chuckled, jumping off the satellite's platform. "That trick won't work again. With my updated Triton App, I not only control their bionics, but also their muscles, their nerves, their minds. I control everything and can make them do anything."

Everyone stared at Krane, jaws locked and glares cold. The only thing that snapped them out of it was another scream from Leo, writhing on the ground. "Leo!" Donald yelled, kneeling back down. Checking him over, he looked back the team with fear on his face. "Guys, he's getting worse. We have to get him out of here, now."

"You're not going anywhere," Krane chuckled before his face once again grew serious. "Soldiers, attack!"

The soldiers surrounded the team. Daniel stepped back, completing the circle encircling the group. Looking around, the team huddled together, knowing they were about to be attacked. Once again, this was a situation they knew they wouldn't get out of.

. . .

For a brief moment in time, the world was in peace, and all Leo could think about was the fact that he had never been able to master any instrument. He had a sincere appreciation for music, and when he was little he tried playing something just like his classmates did, but it had never succeeded. It was odd, actually. Reading codes and interpreting them was relatively easy, but reading notes, musical symbols, keeping up with the tempo and translating them through a music medium was difficult. Typing on a keyboard that relayed information was much less intimidating than playing on a keyboard that relayed sounds.

His mother and even his grandfather tried to teach him, but after a while they gave up. They told him that it was okay if he wasn't gifted in that area. His brain was just wired differently.

He had agreed, but even so he still tried from time to time. His last attempt was two years ago, when Natalie's parents invited him and his mother over for dinner. The adults were downstairs chattering away, while he, Xavier, and Natalie were upstairs in her room, sitting in a small circle as Xavier played around with the new acoustic guitar his parents bought for him. _I wish I know how to do that,_ he had thought out loud.

 _What, play the guitar?_

He nodded.

 _You don't know how to?_

He shook his head.

The cousins grinned. _What,_ Xavier said. He handed his guitar over to his new friend before saying, _Okay, here. Try to play something._

 _What? I just told you I couldn't._

 _Just try._

 _I'm serious, man. I can't. I'm just gonna end up breaking this, and I don't want to do that._

 _You're gonna be fine. Just – try to strum first. No chords, just – strum._

Though hesitant, Leo did what he was told.

 _Okay, good. Now try running your thumb through the strings, from top to bottom. Do it one by one, like this._ Then, Xavier demonstrated it.

 _Like that?_

 _Yeah. Just like that._

Leo was still reluctant, but he did it anyways. He placed his thumb on the top string, positioning his hand like Xavier had done, and then dragged it down.

 _Whoa, whoa, whoa. Have mercy on the strings, my man,_ Xavier said as he placed a hand on the neck of the guitar to stop Leo.

 _I told you I'm bad at it._

 _He didn't say you were horrible, Leo,_ Natalie said. _Xavier just means that you can't be that rough._

 _Yeah. You need to get a feel of how to play whatever it is you want to play,_ Xavier said. _There_ are _some tunes that require you to strum harder, but you should never be that harsh. You might snap the strings._

 _Okay. Sorry._

 _Nah, it's all good. Try again, but more softly this time._

After Xavier released his hold on the guitar, Leo did what he was told. As they had said, it sounded much better.

 _Ah, see? That sounded good,_ Natalie said with a smile.

 _Right. It did,_ Xavier said with a nod. _Now, playing with chords will be harder, but one thing you should remember is that with strings, pressure makes a lot of difference. How hard or soft you tug determine what effect it will give._ Then, a small knowing smirk came to his face, and it awakened Leo to the fact that the memory had changed into something different, something more conscious. _That rule goes with all kinds of strings,_ Xavier said.

Leo frowned. _What? What are you talking about, Xavier?_

Natalie smiled a warm but sad smile. _It's time for you to go now, Leo,_ she said.

 _Go? Go where?_ Leo asked. _I thought we were all hanging out?_

A knock on the door caused him to look behind him. There, he found his mother standing, a ghost of a smile on her face. _Don't do this, Leo,_ she said, but despite the calmness on her face, the words that came out from her mouth were hurried, urgent, and out of fear. Her voice was different, too. _Come on. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up!_

Leo opened his eyes, and the pain and horror of the world came back to him all at once. His head was still throbbing, but as he gazed at the star-filled skies above, the pressure ebbed gradually into nothing. He turned to the figure in his periphery, and there he saw Donald, the look of fright in his face diminishing a little after seeing he had come to. He asked him something, but unlike in the dream his words were inaudible.

He blinked back the minute beats and flickers inside his head then gazed around him. He could see countless of shadows that soon cleared into people. He recognized some of them. There was Adam, Bree, Douglas, Chase. Most of those shadows he wasn't familiar with. These were the ones that surrounded them, and they were looming closer.

He was starting to look back at Donald when something caught his attention. Waves of varying colors were everywhere. They intertwined like webs, and as he slowly sat up he saw that most of these neon strings were like strings attaching hundreds of puppets into the hand of a single puppeteer.

The night glowed with these incandescent threads, and all he wanted was to touch one.

"Leo. Can you hear me? Are you okay?" Donald asked.

Leo nodded. "I'm okay," he said after the inventor helped him get back up to his feet. It was then that he spotted an orange wave hovering just a few inches away from his right arm.

Krane chuckled. "You got back one of your people. Good. It doesn't matter anyway," he said. "This is the end of all of you."

"Not a chance, Krane," Donald said, taking his stand beside his children and his brother. "We're not going down without a fight."

"I sure do hope so. My soldiers are all itching for a good one," Krane said. He nodded to the teenagers. "Give them what they want."

Despite the impending danger, Leo remained oblivious. Standing behind his team, no one was able to stop him from what he wanted to do. He lifted his right hand up, turned it around, and opened it. As he drew it closer to the orange wave, the linear particle curved, wrapping around his thumb. He blinked, watching it with wonder. Though he knew waves were invisible and intangible, for some reason, he could see and feel this one. It felt like a thread, but much softer and more malleable.

 _Pressure makes a lot of difference. That rule goes with all kinds of strings._ Out of curiosity, he wrapped his fingers around the orange wave then tugged forcefully on it.

The orange wave vanished.

Leo looked around, wondering where it had gone to.

Unknown to him, to his team, to Krane, and all of the soldiers, that one act had shut down the bionic madman's laptop, destroying it and the files in it permanently.

 **. . .**

Chase watched as his little brother and all of Krane's other marionettes drew closer. He had no doubt he could defends themselves well enough, but he didn't want to hurt Daniel or any of the other kids that were innocent. He knew his family didn't want to hurt anyone whose hands were actually clean of the billionaire's acts of greediness. "You're a coward," he told Krane loud and clear, and it effectively stopped the man from walking away. "You're such a sorry excuse for a man. You can't fight your own battles, so you force others to do it for you."

Krane turned around, livid. "What did you say?"

"That's right. You heard me. You're a coward," Chase repeated. "You know, don't you, that you don't stand a chance against us. That's why you have children do the work for you." He shook his head. "In the back of your mind, you know that you've lost. I pity you for that."

"I have almost ended you many times!"

"Almost. But you never succeed," Chase said. "Don't make excuses, Krane. It only makes you sadder."

Krane's jaw locked then unlocked as he fumed. "Stop," he commanded the mass. "Stand back. This is my fight." The teenagers parted as he had wished, making a clear path between him and the six.

"So, I assume you have a plan?" Adam asked very quietly from behind his brother.

"Triton app. You terminate the source, you terminate the effects," Chase said under his breath as Krane stood clear in front of the three of them.

"Okay, but how are we going to take him down? Even without his soldiers, he's still more powerful than all of us," Bree asked.

Chase looked like he wanted to answer, but couldn't. He forgot about that fact. But, someone didn't. "I know how." The three teens looked over and saw it was Douglas who spoke.

"What do you mean?"

"When I designed your chips, I added a feature that allows you to sync your abilities to form one powerful attack."

"Wait, if we've had this all along, why are just finding out about it?" Adam asked, his siblings thinking along the same lines.

"I never was able to test it. So, there is a chance that the power could overload your chips."

The teens stood silently for a second. Then, they heard a sizzling noise. Looking at Krane, they saw that he was starting to gather energy into a blast wave. Seeing that, they knew their answer. "How do we do it?" Chase asked.

"Chase, activate your Override App on Adam and Bree. Then, stand back to back so your chips form a perfect triangle. The energy will travel from each of you 'til you're powered up. Quick. It's now or never."

Nodding at their uncle, Chase quickly turned to his siblings. "Hey, just in case this doesn't work, I want you guys to know I love you both."

Bree smiled sadly. "Same." Adam then brought them into a quick group hug.

"Aw, how cute. A final goodbye," Krane said. By the looks of it, he was halfway charged.

Breaking out of their hug, Chase started off. Connecting to his siblings, they all stood back to back and allowed their chips to sync. In one word, it was painful. They could feel the energy leaving their bodies, only for it to slam back into them, and then felt the process repeat. They had to shut their eyes, since the energy started to make a funnel around them. The only thing they could hear was their screams of torture.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, but was actually less than a minute, the attack was fully charged. Prying open their eyes, they took aim at the bionic madman, who all seemed to be done with his attack. Without a second thought, both sides fired.

Though they couldn't see it, it was a beautiful and terrifying spectacle. The team's blue energy attack had collided with Krane's red blast wave, and both were fighting for dominance. Both sides kept pushing as much energy as they could, trying to win the battle, but neither side was giving an inch.

For a brief second, Adam's, Bree's, and Chase's will to save overpowered the madman's desire to destroy, and that short moment was enough to earn the win. The strong force the three was creating rushed like a tidal wave towards Krane. It slammed against him, taking him by surprise, and then catapulted him to the fence. The impact jolted him very much that he lost consciousness before even hitting the ground.

When he landed, the bionic soldiers, now disconnected from him, fell unconscious.

Seeing their triumph, Adam, Bree and Chase unlinked their arms, and their weakened states caused them to collapse.

Douglas was quick to get to Daniel's side to make sure he was okay. Meanwhile, Donald came to his sons' and daughter's sides to check on them. "Are you guys okay?" he asked.

Chase, on his hands and knees as he tried to catch his breath, lifted his head up then nodded. He chuckled. "Yeah," he said. He swallowed thickly before saying again, "Yeah. We're good."

Adam, laid out on the ground like a starfish, groaned, "Oh, I think it's time for bed now. I just…I need to sleep this off for at least a week."

Donald, Chase, and even Bree chuckled at that. "How's Daniel?" Donald asked his brother.

"He's okay. Just passed out like the other kids," Douglas said.

"Well, I can't carry him home. Just want to make that clear," Adam said as he struggled into a sitting position. He exhausted a breath after he finally succeeded.

"Don't look at me. I'm as wiped as you," Bree said, holding her hands up when her older brother glanced at her.

Chase frowned when his siblings looked at him. "When have I ever done physical heavy lifting on missions?" he asked.

Adam's brows quirked and his lips jutted up as he thought about it. He shrugged. "Maybe Leo can do it. He has super strength," he said, looking at the teenage boy standing in the distance.

Four other pairs of eyes turned towards the new bionic. "Leo?" Bree said as they watch him look around, searching for something they couldn't see. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm – I'm fine," Leo said, brows drawn as he continued looking.

"You survived the Triton app," Chase aptly observed. The frown on his face deepened. "How?"

"Maybe Krane just didn't include him when he tried to activate it," Douglas explained.

 _Makes sense,_ Chase thought. "He didn't know about Leo."

"Yeah."

"Let's just try figuring things out when we get home," Donald suggested. "We still have to alert Graham about Krane. He's knocked out. It may be the best time for them to come in now and take him into custody."

"Knocked out? Donny, I think the guy's more than knocked out," his younger brother said.

Donald took a glance at Krane and saw what his brother meant. "Still. Just in case," he said.

Douglas, though absolute that it wasn't necessary, just nodded.

Slowly but steadily, all of them got back to their feet, groaning and hissing as sore muscles pulled on and made them ache. Stretching his back, Adam said, "This means we get a pass for training for a while, right? 'Cause that was some pretty intense work out."

Donald chuckled as he helped Douglas with Daniel. "Yeah, sure. You guys can take a three-day break."

"Three-day break?" Bree repeated as they all began to make their way to the gate. "Can we have a week? This was really exhausting, Mr. Davenport. I'm super drained."

"Yeah. Just the thought of going back on any mission exhausts me," Chase agreed.

"Okay, okay. I'll think about it," Donald said with a small grin, truly glad that at the end of the night, they were all able to complete their mission and still get to go home alive.

He, Douglas and Leo led the way out, with Adam, Bree, and Chase bringing up the rear. It was quiet for once, and this contrast from the noise earlier was very much welcomed. With the silence, they could think, or, for two of them, _not_ think. Exhaustion was settling in, but they were all mustering what they could just to make it back to the house where they could call it a night and figure what the next step would be tomorrow.

Leo's thoughts, however, were far from what the rest was thinking about. Those lights that he saw – he wondered where they were. The night was just alive with them earlier. Now…

He stopped, and it inadvertently caused the others to stop, too. There was one lone wave still floating within their space. It was a bluish neon green one, something that had dominated the airwave earlier. The one he was seeing was weaker in comparison, and it wasn't as connected, but it angrily fought to maintain its visibility.

"Leo? What's wrong?" Donald asked, concerned.

 _Not as connected._ Leo's eyes widened when he realized the origin of the wave. He spun around, and a distance behind them stood Krane, struggling to maintain his balance as a sphere of energy charged between his hands. Leo began to warn the team, but he was cut off as the madman released his attack too suddenly. It knocked them all off their feet, and, though it was not as powerful, knocked Adam, Bree, and Chase unconscious.

Donald and Douglas dropped Daniel in the fall, sending him to the pile that was Adam, Bree, and Chase. Donald, trying to check on his kids, winced, feeling a stabbing pain where his ribs were. Leo, due to his smaller stature, flew a bit further than his teammates, yet he was still close enough to see the deadly look in Krane's eyes.

The man was obviously beaten, battered, and bruised, but he was still able to rise to his feet and walk towards the team. As he generated an orb of energy in his hands, he only said one thing.

"This ends now."

* * *

 _to be continued._


	12. Chapter Twelve

_Huge thanks to Susz, EmeraldTulip, and Ice 88 for the reviews!_

 _This one's a shorter chapter, but we hope you guys would still enjoy._

 _By the way, we saw theories of Leo's mystery ability. They're at the same ballpark, but not quite a homerun. There are more clues here, so you will probably catch it._

* * *

 ** _Chapter Twelve_**

Leo could honestly say this was the most scared he had ever been in his life. He wasn't this afraid when those bullies jumped him when he had tried to save that girl. He hadn't been this scared when he had to deal with Tony. He wasn't even this scared when he almost died.

As Krane walked towards the downed team, Leo, Douglas, and Donald felt as if their bodies had become lead and were weighing them to the ground. Krane's eyes looked red from the light coming from his red laser sphere. His black cloak now had a large hole in the front from where the Tri-Attack had hit him, and the exposed skin was heavily bruised. Though, it didn't look like Krane cared. The only thing he seemed to be thinking was revenge.

Leo saw Douglas crawling over to the downed bionics, a futile way of protecting his son, nephews, and niece. Donald looked like he wanted to go over and help, but every time he tried to move, he winced. It was possible Krane's blast wave had broken his ribs. Turning back to Krane, Leo paled as he saw that the madman was now looming over Donald, though it seemed the tech mogul had yet to realize it.

"Mr. Davenport, behind you!" Leo yelled out, though he knew there was no way the man could get away in time. Hearing the teen's warning, Donald looked up, only to get lifted up in the air by Krane.

For a second, Krane just stared into Donald's eyes, with the inventor whimpering 'not the face, not the face!' Then, he threw the billionaire towards Adam, Bree, Chase, Daniel, and Douglas, knocking his brother on his stomach, and knocking them both out. Krane then turned and stomped over to Leo, who had finally gotten the strength to stand up seeing what had been done to his mentor. A low, cold chuckle bubbled from the madman as he stared at the boy. "We're right where we began, aren't we," he said. "I would be insulted by this, that you're the only one left to protect inferior, narrow-minded people, but I realize I still owe you for the last time."

Leo only glared, seething as he watched the madman regather the red laser sphere within his palms. Still, he didn't allow his anger to blind him to his surroundings. A finer red wave had grown like a vine around the bluish neon green one, and the color only grew stronger as the energy in the sphere built up.

Krane shook his head. "There's no escape for you anymore," he said.

"They're not inferior or narrow-minded, Krane," Leo said, momentarily taking his eyes away from the spectacle of light. "That the people you want under your control are not bionic doesn't mean they're lesser. I pulled one over you, didn't I?"

Krane smirked. "That was an accident."

"It was an oversight. On your part," Leo corrected. "However way you put it, you still lost."

The slyly curl on the madman's lips diminished to non-existence. "Pretty bold of you to be so mouthy when there will be no one to save you."

Leo said nothing, only observed.

The red wave increased in intensity.

"Do you know what the world does to people like you? To people who wants to be a hero?" Krane asked with a sneer. "They make you hope. They make you think that you're making a difference and that they respect you for it. They will tell you to keep going, to keep helping them, but you know what they're actually doing? They're setting you up. Because they want to take, and take, and take, and take, and when you have nothing left they will turn against you. They will kick you over and over when you're down, and they will have no mercy. They will kill the hope they give you so you would be as desperate and pretentious like them until soon, you'll begin to want to take away, too.

"That's how they make the world go round: they drag people to the bottom, so they could be on top."

Leo looked intently at Krane, and the bitterness he saw in his eyes surprised him. What Krane had said was not out of his own objective opinion but something out of experience. For a moment, he wondered what it was that had brought him so much anger, but the deeper he pondered over it the more afraid he became. He felt a degree of empathy towards the bionic madman, and that terrified him. "So is that why you're doing this?" he asked instead. "You want justice?"

"I want revenge."

"How does it make you any different from the people you hate?"

"It doesn't," Krane said. A smirk pulled on his mouth. "I don't want them to see me as different. I want them to see me as the monster I've become, the monster they've turned me into."

"You may see the world as deserving of all your anger, but I don't," Leo said firmly. "The way you see people is not the way I see them."

Krane laughed derisively. "Is that your way of telling me that you're going to stop me?"

"I will certainly try," Leo said despite his nervousness.

"With what? You don't have anything – no blaster, no weapon." The smirk on Krane's face grew into a wolfish grin. "They've fooled you."

Leo raised his hand in front of him, but before he could activate a laser sphere he was distracted by the waves curving towards grasp.

Krane stared at him in amusement. "What, do you think that will stop me?" he asked. Soon, though, what the boy was doing became clear to him, and the expression on his face went away. "They gave you bionics," he aptly concluded.

Leo tried to ignore the strings of light, but he couldn't. Something within him was urging him to look closely and to think what they were for. So, he did.

Krane, meanwhile, only raised his hands as the mass of force he had been holding reached a dangerous limit. "This will make it easier," he said.

Leo barely heard a word of it. He lifted his hand higher and reached for the wave. The finer red string latched within the hooks made by his slightly bent fingertips, and through it he sensed in the tiniest of degrees the crackle of the red laser sphere. _Think, Leo. What's it for then?_ a voice in the back of his head asked.

As Krane slightly drew back to throw the sphere, Leo tested his theory by slowly pulling down on the red wave.

He watched as the red laser shrunk steadily the more he dragged his hand down.

Krane could only look on in shock as his only means of attack steadily weakened. "What…what are you doing?" he asked.

When it finally occurred to him what was happening, Leo grinned and then chuckled out of disbelief. The strings that he was seeing—they could be used for control. "I'm stopping you," he said. Then, he forcefully pulled on the red wave.

Krane staggered as he nearly lost his balance after the red laser sphere blinked out. Though stunned and confused, he tried to reactivate what he had lost, but all he got as results were sparks.

Seeing his chance, Leo gathered within his hands laser spheres but the effort triggered something else. The steady force continually gathered within both of his arms. It kept accumulating until his shoulders became heavy with strength he had never had before. He glanced down at them and saw familiar bluish upsurges that he had only seen from two people: the man who had almost killed him, and the boy who had saved him.

Leo took a long glance at his team, within which were many who gave him a chance and had never regretted it, and then he turned his attention to Krane. "People didn't turn you into a monster, Krane. You allowed them to turn you into one," he said. "This ends now. I won't let you kill their hope." Then, he released the blast wave that had built upon his arms.

The rush of brute strength hit Krane full on, and it was enough to send him flying back. He fell with a loud thud on the ground and was knocked unconscious.

With all his energy expended, Leo fell on his knees with a heavy sigh. The last time he remembered being this weak was when he first woke up in the hospital, in that very brief moment where his body hadn't registered the presence of bionics in his system yet. He had been so tired then, and now he was feeling as tired again. Nonetheless, a glance at the unmoving dark form on the ground gave him the satisfaction he needed. His family, his friends, and their futures were all safe.

As the members of his team stirred back into consciousness, he allowed himself to collapse to the ground. As he lied down with a perfect view of the stars above, he grinned. Then, he laughed.

The war was over, and, at least for tonight, tomorrow was not something he needed to worry about.

* * *

 _to be continued._


	13. Chapter Thirteen

_Sincerest thanks to Susz, Ice 88, ShadowDragon1553, EmeraldTulip, and Guest12345 for your reviews!_

 _We've wound down to our very last chapters, you guys._

* * *

 ** _Chapter Thirteen._**

For a while, Xavier and Natalie only stared blankly at him. Then, Xavier finally said, "I don't believe you."

It had been nearly a week and a half since the mission at Pike's Crest. Admittedly, Leo couldn't remember the first three days he spent back at home, but only because he had slept it off. With his own capsule in his own room, just as Donald had promised, he was able to finally truly get some rest. His mother, who had understandably been scared half to death after he was returned bruised and scarred, allowed him to have some time off even if many matters from school was awaiting him. His well-being was much more important to her.

Once he was back on his feet, the two of them worked together to straighten out what needed to be straightened out. Most of them dealt with things concerning his impending graduation ceremony and also his future living arrangements in Los Angeles. As they did, he told his mother what had taken place, and she listened.

Today, after everything was done and as they discussed what he would like for his graduation party, Xavier and Natalie stopped by to drop off the invitation for their party and to eventually ask why he had been missing. He had doubted whether telling them the truth would be wise, but upon his mother's encouragement he told them honestly how his days had been spent as of late.

When he finished, as he had expected, they stared at him as if he had just told them the biggest lie of his life.

Leo chuckled. "No, it's true," he said.

"So you seriously expect us to believe that you've been training to go after a crazy bionic guy, who was actually the one who almost ended you, and the night of the senior awards you were off battling evil forces," Natalie repeated sardonically.

Leo exchanged glances with his mother, who only smiled. "Yep," he said.

"Man, get outta here," Xavier said with an incredulous grin. "We're not gonna buy that. That sounds like a story out of a comic book!"

Leo laughed. "Oh, you want proof?"

"Mm-hm," Natalie said.

"You really want proof?"

"Yeah," Xavier smirked.

"I don't think you can handle this proof."

"Are you going to show us or not?"

Leo smirked in response. He then brought out his right hand, and in an instant an orange sphere of energy had built up in his palm. Leo stared down at the sphere for a second to make sure it was stable, and then looked up at his friends. Natalie, who had dropped her jaw, was staring at the light like it was going to attack. Xavier, meanwhile, had flipped out of his chair, and was lying down on the floor, also staring at his friend's hand.

As Xavier got up, Natalie spoke. "Is this really happening?"

Leo's smirk grew. "Yeah, Natalie, this is all real." Leo looked at Xavier, who was now right by him, reaching out to touch the laser sphere. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Not listening, Xavier touched his hand to the orb and yelped in pain as his palm was burned. "Ow! And awesome!"

"Come on, man, why would you do that?" Leo said, deactivating the laser sphere.

Tasha sighed. "Let me get the first aid kit," she said then stood up to head to the bathroom.

"Okay, I still can't wrap my head around this," Natalie said. "Like, how?"

Leo shrugged. "Mr. Davenport and Douglas," he said.

"Mr. Who and who?"

"Mr. Davenport and Douglas," Leo repeated. "You know, the two men that came here while we were studying? The people you were directing your death stare to?"

"Oh, the guy with the bionic kids!" Xavier chimed. He frowned as he said, "So I guess it really wasn't their fault."

"No, it's not."

"What happened to the guy who almost offed you then?" Natalie asked.

"He's in custody, but that's as far as I know. After they took him away that night I've never asked where he's been taken."

"What about the other bionic kids?"

"Other bionic kids?"

"Yeah. The three that we saw in the hospital. The cute, tall one, the girl, and the other guy."

Leo quirked his brows at her. "'The cute, tall one'?"

"Hey, I may have been ticked, but I wasn't dead."

Xavier narrowed his eyes. "Mm, wrong choice of words there," he said.

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"If you're asking about Adam, Bree, and Chase, they're fine," Leo jumped in. His features then wrinkled. "At least they were the last time I saw them."

"You haven't been keeping in touch with them?" Xavier asked.

Leo shook his head. "It was part of the deal. I go on that mission, and after that they stay out of my life forever," he said.

Seeing from his face what he wouldn't say, Natalie asked, "Do you wonder how they are, though?"

A small smile came to Leo's face. "I guess if they decide I need to know, they'll tell me," he said.

Natalie smiled back encouragingly.

Taking a deep breath and a more serious tone, Leo warned, "Look, these abilities – no one can know about this, okay? This is just between us. I told you two because mom thinks I should trust you with it."

"What, you don't trust us?" Xavier asked.

"It's not that I don't trust you. It's that knowing this could be dangerous. You see how those people reacted to anything and anyone associated with Adam, Bree, Chase, and Daniel. Some people are pretty good at hating things they don't understand. I don't want any of us getting the attention of those people. We've got lives we still need to live. A _normal_ life I still want to live," Leo explained.

The cousins exchanged somber glances. Then, speaking for both of them, Natalie said, "Okay. We won't say anything. We promise."

"Okay, I think I have everything here," Tasha said as she walked back in, checking the contents of the plastic kit. "I still need to put together an ice pack, though."

Before Xavier could thank her he was startled by the buzzing of his phone. Drawing it out of his pocket with his good hand, he frowned. "Oh, Aunt Michelle's over at our house, Nat," he said.

"I thought she's not coming 'til Saturday?"

"I don't know. Maybe she wants it to be a surprise, came earlier."

Natalie's features lightly contorted in disgust. "Did she take her grandkids with her?"

"Probably not. They're still at school."

Natalie sighed in relief. "Oh, I'm glad. Elli is a sweetheart, but his sister's a total brat," she said.

Xavier laughed as he got up. "Don't let Aunt Michelle hear you say that. She'll get hurt," he commented to her. Then, to Tasha he said, "Thank you so much for letting us visit, Mama D. Thanks for trying to help me with the burn, too, but I'll just take care of it at home."

"Are you sure? I can make a quick ice pack for you," Tasha offered concernedly.

"No, I'm good," Xavier said with a smile. "We really have to go."

"Well, okay. Take this burn cream, at least." Tasha grabbed the tube then tossed it towards the blond.

Xavier caught it then grinned. "Thank you. I'll bring it back," he said as Natalie walked out the door.

Tasha waved the thought away. "Sweetie, you can keep it. We'll just get another one."

Xavier nodded. He waved a goodbye to her as he held the door open then nodded at his best friend. "I'll text you later, man."

"Bye, Leo!" Natalie said before she got in her car.

Leo smiled. "Talk to you guys later," he said, and at that Xavier closed the door and left.

Both of them listened as the car on their driveway started up before pulling out. The gears squeaked slightly as Natalie turned the steering wheel, but soon it was replaced by the sound of the engine rumbling as she drove away. It didn't take long until it was gone and peace took over again.

"Well, they know the truth now," Tasha said.

"Yes." Leo looked out the window and into the quiet street. "That they do."

Tasha smiled at her son. "Are you hungry? We can go out and get something to eat," she suggested.

"Sounds good."

"Alright. We'll be leaving in fifteen minutes."

Before she could turn around to leave, Leo spoke. "Mom? Can I…Can I talk to you about something?"

Noting the worry in his tone, Tasha was immediately on alert. Still, she maintained her calmness. "Sure, baby," she said as she took a seat beside him. "What is it?"

Leo withdrew to his memories for a moment, hesitating whether his concern was even worth sharing, then finally, he said, "Before Krane tried to, you know, _deal_ with me, he told me why he was doing the things he was doing. He hated people. He blamed everyone for what happened to him. When he told me that, when he told me how everybody over time made him feel, I—I understood him." He looked at his mother in the eyes and asked, "Is that bad? I knew what he meant."

"That doesn't make you like him," Tasha assured him.

"But I've been as angry as he is towards other people," Leo said. "Those ones that hurt Dad, that hurt you. Those kids that made fun of me and shoved me around. I was so mad at them. I try not to be, but when I think about them I still get upset. I'm scared that, with the things I can do now, I can easily turn into someone like Krane."

Tasha thought seriously about her response. When something came to her, she smiled. "There was a show I once watched, and in there they said something that I thought was interesting. They said that people who experience evil things can become one of two things: they either become evil themselves, or they can become someone who will do whatever it takes so that other people won't experience the bad things that they did," she said. "From what I've seen, it's clear to me which one you're turning out to be. The question is, do you?"

Leo smiled up at his mom, who smiled back. "Thanks, Mom."

"Anytime, sweetie. Now, c'mon, let's get ready." Tasha kissed her son's forehead, and then went upstairs to get ready. Leo sat on the couch for a few more seconds before he went to go upstairs. That is, until the doorbell rang.

Thinking that maybe Xavier and Natalie forgot something, Leo went to the door. What he was not expecting was to see Donald Davenport.

"Oh. Hey, Mr. Davenport. Um, how's your side?" Leo asked, confused why the billionaire was there.

"Better, thanks. I just came over to drop off the last of your schematics." To emphasize, he pulled out a flash drive. For some reason, though, he seemed really nervous.

"Oh, cool. If you want, you can just go put them next to my capsule." Turning slightly around, he yelled, "Mom, Mr. Davenport is here! He needs to leave something in my room! Can he come up?"

Footsteps descended the stairs. Tasha came in, preoccupied with strapping on a wristwatch, and then stopped just so her son could see her. "Yeah. Of course," she said to him with a smile then headed to the basement.

Leo turned to Donald. "You're cleared, Captain," he told him.

"Thanks."

Leo watched the man run upstairs to the bedroom. He was about to close the door when he saw something that surprised him even more. "Chase?"

The boy genius stood in the doorway, looking really uncomfortable. "Hey, Leo."

"Hey," Leo said unsurely. He only stared at him at first, brows lightly knitted as he tried to figure out what had brought him there. However, when he realized how impolite it was, he decided to ask instead, albeit cautiously, "Would you like to come in?"

Chase walked in after Leo stepped back to let him through. Upon instinct, he took a glance around the living room as the other boy closed the door. "Your house looks nice," he commented.

"Thanks," Leo said, mentally noting how their conversation was getting stranger by the second. Chase had never said anything nice, and suddenly, for the first time since they met, he was actually _being_ nice. "If you want to, you can take a seat," he offered.

"No, I'm, uh, I'm good," Chase said. "Mr. Davenport and I are not gonna stay long. We know you and your mom are probably busy."

Leo nodded, letting him know he understood. He said nothing after that.

He immediately regretted it because of the thick and awkward silence that followed. "So, how are you feeling?" he impulsively asked, both out of his want to ward off the uncomfortable situation and his curiosity.

"I'm okay. You?"

"Fine." After a pause, he asked, "How's…the family?"

"Good," Chase said. "Everybody's doing better. Adam and Bree are doing fine. All bruises and scratches have healed. Daniel's doing okay, too. He tells us he remembers absolutely nothing while he was under the Triton app. I think he just found a new thing to hate. Mr. President was really impressed with what had been done. He had a press conference so people will have a better understanding of us and won't be afraid. Bottom line is we have more allies now."

Leo nodded again, but with a small smile this time.

"He, uh, he also asked about you," Chase added. "He asked us where you were."

"What did you say?"

"We told him you went home." Chase hesitated for a long while as he formed the thoughts he knew he needed to say. After working up the courage for it, he said, "I know I owe you an apology, Leo. I haven't been very kind to you, and since day one I've been giving you a hard time. Never once have I thanked you for saving us. That was wrong, and I want to say I'm sorry. I also want to thank you for doing it again a second time."

Leo frowned at him, confused by the complete attitude flip of what he had been accustomed to. He gaped when he thought of how the nervousness, the schematics, and the unexplained niceness added up. "Am I dying?!" he asked.

Chase frowned, taken aback. "What? No," he said. "I'm just telling you these things because I've been thinking about it these past few days. It's not because anything went wrong."

"Oh."

Chase sighed. "You can't tell anyone about this, alright? But I think I also figured out why I didn't like having you around." When Leo looked at him inquisitively, he explained, "You had ideas that worked. They may be half-baked, but they worked. The more you showed what you can do, the more the team – _my_ team – liked you. And they would listen to you. I didn't like that because…well, because I was so used to being the one they listened to."

"I wasn't trying to take your team away from you," Leo said. "I was just trying to fit in."

"That's the problem. You fit in perfectly with them. Meanwhile I'm still trying to figure out where I stand," Chase said, and Leo easily detected the sadness he was trying to hide.

He felt sorry for him. There he was thinking that the guy despised him for being in the way. He didn't know the reason really was something deeper.

"Anyways," Chase continued, diverting the topic, "I guess what I'm saying is that I know now that the two of us won't agree on very many things. But, since we're practically on the same team, we're just going to have to put those differences aside as much as we can. Deal?"

Leo shrugged. "Deal."

"So he agreed?" Donald asked, surprising both boys.

Chase smiled when he understood. "No. We were talking about something else."

"Wait. Agreed? Agreed to what?" Leo asked.

The father and son stood quiet, Mr. Davenport looking quite uncomfortable. "I'm going to wait in the car," Chase said, obviously trying to go before their conversation began.

As Chase walked out of the room, Leo couldn't help but feel even more uneasy than when it was just him and the boy genius. Mr. Davenport looked like he was trying to say something, but kept choking on his words. Finally, the suspense got to him. "What were you talking about? What do you want me to agree to?"

Hearing these words, Donald swallowed the lump in his throat, allowing him to speak. "Well, we don't want you to agree per say. More like…compromise, or maybe—" Donald stopped talking because of Leo's expression, which clearly said 'you're stalling.'

"Okay. The day after we defeated Krane's army, we were going over the mission in the lab. Usual meeting, congratulations and adjusting their systems to handle a situation like that better. Then, we realized we forgot about the soldiers." Leo's eyes widened at that. He had to admit, with all the excitement of winning the battle and locking up Krane, he forgot they left over a hundred bionic teenagers unconscious in a field. "Thankfully, Adam didn't." Leo's surprise changing into confusion, Donald elaborated.

"Apparently, Adam had allowed one of the soldiers to come back to the house with us. Except, that soldier was able to contact all of his brothers and sisters and tell them to meet up at the mansion. Obviously, we couldn't keep them all at our house, so we had to find a place for them all to stay."

Though Leo wanted to laugh at what Adam had done, he realized that was a serious situation. "So, what happened?"

"Well, when the president found out, he wanted to lock them all away. He said they were criminals, and even if they weren't in control when they committed their crimes, they were still bionic and needed to be contained." Leo frowned a little at that, feeling a little insulted since he was also bionic. "But, I had a better idea."

Taking out his cellphone, Mr. Davenport pulled up a picture. Curiosity piqued, Leo looked over and was amazed at what he was seeing. It was an island, though it was mostly manmade. Besides a very small beach, the entire island was made of metal, constructed like a military base. On the center of the island was the famous Davenport logo. "This was previously an offshore warehouse. I built it for Adam, Bree and Chase in case the world found out and tried to take them away. But now, it's the world's first bionic training academy. I repurposed it so it can house all the soldiers and be a safe place where they can train so they can use their bionics for good."

Leo was in awe at what he was seeing. But then a thought occurred to him. "This is amazing, Mr. Davenport. But, what do I have to do with this?"

Pocketing his phone, Donald smiled. "I want you to attend."

The smile on Leo's face gradually diminished. "That wasn't a part of our deal. We said one mission, that's it."

"I know, and I'm not requiring you to come. This is more of an…invitation," Donald said. "Leo, you can't deny the fact that you have a good range of abilities. And with the modified bionics given to you, who knows what else you can do? We just wanted to extend an opportunity for you to learn more about it and to have better control."

"I don't want to learn more about it. I wanna go to college," Leo replied defensively but still respectfully. "I don't want to be a superhero, Mr. Davenport. I mean, I got to experience it with that one mission, and that was cool, but that's not where I want my life to go. I wanna be an inventor or an engineer. That's how I'm supposed to change the world."

"And I get that. That's why we wanted to open up this chance to you." Donald continued to explain, "I know you're a bright kid, and I would never want to stop you from learning the things you want to learn. Douglas and I have talked about it, and we thought that, if you decide to join us, your academic curriculum could be tailored to fit your major. I've consulted with this one university that I've been helping in funding about the situation, and they said they can help out, make an exception for you."

"Exception how?"

"You can live and study on the island," Donald said. "Meaning the academy will be your campus, and you can take the courses that you need for whatever you wanna major in in place of the academic classes that the other kids have to take."

"Well, I guess not having to pay for board would be nice," Leo said thoughtfully. "I _don't_ have to pay for board at this academy, right?"

Donald chuckled. "No, not this one. It's totally free," he said. "And, since you've mentioned it already, you'll be better off in the island with us anyway if you really want to sharpen your engineering skills. There are many new inventions there that not many people had seen before. You'll be more than welcome to look them over. Not to mention," he smirked as he straightened his shirt, "you will have a chance to collaborate with the smartest and handsomest man living on earth today."

Leo's brows knitted as he narrowed his eyes in confusion.

Donald scoffed. "Me. I'm talking about me," he said, pointing to himself.

"Right," Leo said skeptically.

"We're always building something to either help on missions or to sell to interested buyers, and we could definitely use more ideas," Donald said, ignoring the look he was just given. "That blaster that you and your friend made just showed what you are capable of, and, maybe one day, if you and your friends are interested…Davenport Industries could use young minds like yours in the company."

"Wait. Are you offering us internships?"

"Douglas and I would have to see first how you perform. If you don't slack off or lose interest in the field, then yeah." Donald smiled. "I can open up a few spots in our engineering team for you guys."

It excited Leo to hear that prospect, but that feeling was short-lived. After realizing it, his shoulders sagged as he said, "But that's only if I sign-up for the bionic school, isn't it?"

"Well, that part about not having to live in and pay to stay in campus, yeah. But the internship is valid whether you come or not," Donald said. "Listen, we'd really love to have you on board as a student. You have so much potential, and we can help you get used to your bionics. And it won't be such a strange environment for you. Adam, Bree, Chase and Daniel will be there as the mentors. Douglas and I will be there, too." Having had explained the proposition to the best of his abilities, he now turned the table around to the teenage boy, asking hopefully, "So, what do you say?"

Leo thought deeply about it. He couldn't deny that the things offered to him should he agree to go were good. He would still get to go to school, paying less for it than what he had been expecting, and he would be in an environment where his _quirks_ wouldn't be something that he would need to hide. Additionally, he would get to work closely with two tech titans and expand his knowledge on the field he was interested in. Though the university in Los Angeles offered so many things, he didn't think they could match something like that.

However, he also knew that going on that island would mean saying goodbye to the normal life he wanted. It seemed to him that all the students would be geared to do exactly what the four siblings had been doing since the beginning: putting their lives on the line so they could help others. Though he had no problem with that, he wasn't sure if it was how he wanted to contribute to that same goal. Plus, he was only ever successful with the simulations they underwent and the mission they had gone to because of accidents. That was too unpredictable, and sooner or later he was going to run out of accidents to save him.

He glanced down at the couch and saw the invitation Xavier and Natalie left for him. Graduation was in a few days, and he knew this moment was part of his future's call to make a choice. Would he continue on to Los Angeles and carry on with the dream he'd had for years, or would he sacrifice that and take a chance with something new, frightening, and interesting?

Leo took a breath and released it, his lungs filling with much needed air.

For the second time since they have crossed paths with the bionics, he felt the weight of two options teetering unstably on his shoulders.

* * *

 _to be continued._


	14. Chapter Fourteen

_Thanks to EmeraldTulip and Susz for the reviews. Much appreciated, ladies!_

 _Last chapter. Just to warn you, this chapter is very dark. It has several elements that might make you feel uncomfortable, like mentions of alcoholism, adultery, and a short but graphic scene - just to name some. Please be careful._

 _Notes from us at the end._

* * *

 ** _Chapter Fourteen._**

There was no light in the cell. The only thing signifying anyone was in there was the constant screams and pounding coming from the room.

Krane knew it was hopeless to try and break down the steel door. When he was unconscious, the Davenports removed his bionic chip, so now he was once again just a regular human. The only harm he was probably doing was annoying the guards on the other side of the door.

Finally, exhaustion set in. The madman fell to his knees, giving up for the time being. Growling, he got up and found his cot, before lying down. He almost beat them. Finally, the world was going to feel his wrath. He was going to get the revenge he knew he deserved.

He had taken down all of the Davenports, the only thing between him and world domination a scrawny human who should have known to just give up. And yet, the human was able to defeat him, Victor Krane, the most powerful man in the world. At least, he used to be.

He still couldn't understand how it happened. He had replayed that moment over and over again in his head, and it had yet to make sense. He was sure that that boy was going to be defeated. Though he was weakened by the attack of those three _pitiful_ teenagers, he had enough to end that kid. Yet, when that boy raised his hand, controlling something he couldn't see, he was left watching his own strength vanish in front of him.

It must be a new ability, something that neither Douglas nor Gao was aware of.

He wanted it. Once he got out of that prison and get his bionics back, he would find out more about that ability. He would make sure to have it, too, even if it meant taking that pathetic little child so he could replicate it.

His hands balled into fists as he thought of the things that could have been. That boy, those kids – they all didn't understand. If they had known why the world was so deserving of his anger, why it would have been better if it was under his control, they may have understood. They were still too young, and they still held onto their illusions of a beautiful world where people were not greedy or proud. Where people were not backstabbers and would not crush others underfoot for their own personal gain.

If only they could see the things he had seen, they would know that that beauty was only a mask, designed to hide the decomposing cores of those they wanted to protect.

He guessed he couldn't really blame them for thinking the way they think. Once upon a time, he believed that lie, too. When he was young, he thought he could also change everything. Even if his father loved his company and his other women more than he loved his son and his wife, and even if his mother drank herself half of the time because of a loveless marriage, he held onto the hope that things would get better.

He _hoped_. That was his first mistake.

However, despite things being difficult at home, he found solace in the things he was learning at the university and the close friends he had made. The latter, especially, because Douglas and Franklin helped him to not feel like a pariah regardless of his social ineptitude. He was always looking forward to being in the company of the two loud, careless, and intelligent students. He had never had any siblings, but he imagined that if he had brothers they would have been like them.

 _You're still worried about bringing up your new major with your old man?_ Franklin had asked him one night while they were out on a nearby bar after their midterms senior year.

 _Yeah,_ he had answered, deeply troubled by the thought. _I think he really wants me to stay in Business Management because of the company._

 _Do you even want the company?_

 _No._

 _Have you told him that?_

 _No._

 _Are you_ going _to tell him that?_

 _Of course not. Once I tell him I don't want to have anything to do with it, he's gonna have a fit._

 _You know, eventually, he's gonna find out about it._

 _I doubt it. He's too busy with a couple of acquisitions right now. That, and Veronica._ He sighed. _I really wish Mom would drop him already. We could just start over somewhere. I don't care if we're broke. I just want her to be happy._

 _Maybe the reason why your mom hasn't split from your dad is because she's thinking about you. She loves you, and she doesn't want you kicked out to the streets. You don't know. Maybe she's waiting until you finish college._

 _Which brings me back to the reason why I'm switching my major behind Dad's back._

 _What are you losers talking about now?_ Douglas asked as he came back with a drink.

 _Oh, you know: world problems, current events, the World Series. Usual things that serious college students talk about,_ Franklin said with a smile.

 _That's good, except that I know you two are anything but serious college students._

 _Says the guy holding a bottle of hard lemonade,_ Franklin quipped.

 _Ah, leave me alone. I just need something to take the edge off,_ Douglas said as he sat down.

Franklin quirked his brows. _Your brother got on your nerves again?_

 _Again? When has he ever stopped?,_ Douglas lamented. _Ever since we started this little business idea that we've had, he's been demanding more of my time. I'm still in college, for crying out loud! What does he want me to do, drop out? And he never listens to any of my ideas! He says they're ethically wrong!_

 _Man, forget the hard lemonade. You should be drinking chamomile tea or something,_ Franklin said, taken aback by the outburst. _Your stress level is off the charts. You need some relaxation time._

 _There's a lavender field here somewhere. Maybe we should drop him off and let him wander there a bit._

 _Yeah. Then we'll watch as he gets arrested for trespassing._

Douglas glared at both of them as they laughed. _You're supposed to be on my team, Victor. Not Franklin's._

 _Again, said the guy holding a bottle of hard lemonade and who just blew a gasket,_ Franklin bantered.

 _You know, I fear for the world should you have kids one day, Franklin,_ Douglas said. _Your kid's gonna be a smart aleck, like you._

 _Mm-hm, and he or she is gonna be a good-looking genius, too,_ Franklin said with a sly smile.

Douglas smirked. _You sure you're not drunk?_ he asked, and it cued another round of banter between the two.

Krane stared at the ceiling above him as that memory faded into the darkness. Everything was so different twenty years ago. He really thought things would change, especially after he finally found the courage to stand up to his father after his mother suddenly died. He was estranged from the only family he had left, but he still had his friends with him so the loss wasn't significant. He worked hard to prove to his father that he didn't need him, and it was paying off.

And even after Douglas gradually drifted away from them after he and Donald had a difference over something he wouldn't reveal then, he and Franklin continued on. Eventually, they came across something innovative, something so earthshattering that they could barely believe that they came up with it.

 _Ow! Stupid machine,_ he had growled, fixing the wires in the arm brace.

 _Hey, in its defense, you are rewiring its motherboard,_ Franklin said, shrugging a bit, before attaching a few more components to the mask.

 _Yeah, yeah, yeah. You almost done on your part, Groucho Marx?_

 _Yeah, just need to attach this part to the main wires, and—_ The two college students stepped back from the exoskeleton for a second, seeing if it would work. After a few moments, the head sparked, before the whole thing fell on its side.

 _Dang it!_ Franklin then kicked a nearby table, only succeeding in stubbing his toe.

 _This thing is never going to work! Why didn't we just listen to Dr. Temerson and choose a simple project?_

 _Because, when I said let's just fix a computer, you were all like, 'No that's too easy. Let's pick something nearly impossible and ruin my best friend's GPA.'_ As Franklin said this, he did a terrible Krane impression, angering the man.

 _Hey, don't blame this all on me. You were the one who decided to bring biology into this!_

 _Oh that is so not true._ As the two former roommates argued, they didn't notice their exoskeleton spark a little more, before the face plate lit up, and it started to power up.

Franklin was the first to hear the suit power on. _Hey, Vic?_ Krane wasn't listening as he was still mad at what his friend had said. _Vic, dude, look!_

Turning his head, Krane was shocked to see that the exoskeleton was actually powered on, and everything looked like it was working. _It's working._ Though he said it as a statement, it sounded like a question.

 _It's working,_ Franklin repeated, smiling. The two boys then proceeded to dance around, excited their machine worked.

Their expectations for their groundbreaking project did not fail. Not only did the artificial skeletal infrastructure give them the grade they desired, but it also gained them the attention of many interested businessmen due to their professor's referral. Both he and Franklin thought that things were looking up, especially when offers were made to them left and right. It was nearly overwhelming, but they didn't mind. With student loans to pay off and, for Franklin, a young wife to support, it was a windfall.

They selected a well-established research company as their sponsor. Though its mission statement was somewhat complicated and confusing, the company had an impressive facility, a seemingly admirable mode of operation, and a number of good records under its name. What both of them liked the most was the promise made to them that the tech they designed would be studied to help others with damaged spines so they could gain mobility again. That was their purpose in the first place: make something to assist others.

But then, a few months down the line, the owner of the company and the head scientist began to change. They started adding features on the tech behind their backs, features that were dangerous and were out of the conditions they had agreed upon. When the two of them brought it up, they were immediately brushed off, and along with that they were told that volunteers were being drafted to test it out. Both of them were quick to point out that it wouldn't be safe yet. It wasn't ready, and trying it out on human beings would be far too reckless. The men and women didn't listen.

When the two of them threatened to pull out their invention, the president only sneered at them and told them that they signed a contract. Unless they had millions to buy themselves out of it, they would need to do whatever they say. _It's just how the real world works, boys,_ the man had told them.

That weighed down on both of them. They were stuck on a deadly trap, one that could hurt many people, but there was nothing they could do.

A spark of hope came in the form of a bad news. No one wanted to sign up for the test, and the company had a strict deadline to meet. They overheard the president ranting that if their 'backer' didn't get any results, the support given to them would be withdrawn. Eventually, the whole project would be shut down, and they would have no choice but to take a considerable loss.

The two of them were very pleased to hear that. Not only would that buy them time to get a good lawyer to rescue them out of the hole they were stuffed in, but it would also mean that their hands would not be dirtied by the selfish pursuit of the company.

The deadline was just two days away when they received an unusual call one night. The head scientist, in a cold tone, asked them to come to the laboratory because something in the infrastructure malfunctioned. Franklin, once the message was relayed to him, told his friend that coming wasn't a good idea. _I have a bad feeling about this, Vic,_ he said. _I don't like the way he's trying to approach us._

 _I don't either, but what are we going to say?_

 _Don't worry, I had you covered. I told him something came up, and we can't make it._

 _They bought into that?_

 _I said it was a family emergency. What are they gonna do, bust through our doors? That's trespassing. Plus, you live on campus, and we live near the fire department. They can't try anything funny without calling attention to themselves. They'd have no choice but to let us be._

Though he was still worried, that night passed by safely for both of them. The feeling didn't really ease out until the night of the deadline. Feeling triumphant, both of them decided to visit the bar they used to frequent with Douglas two years prior. They talked extensively regarding many things – the tech, their last year in school, their missing friend. When they ventured out into the topic of Franklin's new life as a husband, it was then that the good news came up. _Seriously? A baby?_ he had asked with a grin. _That's great news! Why didn't you tell me about this?_

 _Because we didn't find out until a few days ago. I figured I'll tell you once we get over this whole monster corp thing._

He had chuckled before saying, _I wish Douglas was here. His nightmare just came true._

Franklin laughed. _Hey, you wanna come over at our house? My wife's cooking dinner. I mentioned you might come by. She said she doesn't mind._

He smirked. _'My wife,' huh? You really love saying that, don't you?_

 _'Course I do. Got the smartest, prettiest chick on campus. Why wouldn't I?_ He nudged him. _One day, when you get married, you'd understand what I mean._

He chuckled at that as they exited the bar.

They were on their way to Franklin's car when, in the middle of a short discussion, a van skidded into the parking lot _._ Men in dark clothing jumped out then took both of them by force. Franklin tried to fight them off, and so did he, but there were too many of them. They were thrown into the back of the vehicle then hauled away to an unknown location.

Their multitude of questions were immediately answered when they saw the head scientist, a small number of his team, two metallic tables with restraints and two of the skeletal infrastructure they had made. The head scientist was quick in explaining why they were there – not that he felt any inclination to. They had a deadline to meet, that was all he said. He gave an insincere apology before both of them were tied down on each of the tables despite their struggling.

He remembered the restraints being very cold. He remembered begging them to let them go, and he could hear Franklin doing the same. He remembered the sound and the feel of the scissors cutting through the back of his shirt as the scientists prepared to attach their own invention to him.

He clearly recalled the pain that came once the infrastructure was activated. It latched onto his spine like a leech, its hundreds of pins sinking down to the marrows of his bones. His lungs burned as he screamed. The last he remembered was the feeling of wires crawling up from behind his neck and slinking their way up to his eyes before he blacked out.

When he came to hours later, it was obvious to him that he had barely escaped death. He was so weak, and the lower half of his body was numb. Looking around, he saw that they had been abandoned. All the equipment that was there were gone, and the people from the research company and their hired men were nowhere to be found. He concluded then that something had gone wrong, and those people fled because of it.

It was then that he remembered he wasn't alone. Turning his head, he saw Franklin also lying on his stomach on the table. His hands, now free from any restraints, were hanging by the sides. He was too still.

Terrified of the thought coming into his head, he fought to make his way over to him. With everything from his waist down paralyzed, he had to roll over then brace himself as he fell to the ground. It took him a while to recover from the pain that hit him, but eventually he was able to crawl towards his friend. _Frank – Franklin…_ , he tried to call him despite his voice being hoarse. _Franklin._

Nothing.

He reached for Franklin's wrist to check his pulse, but he knew from the rigidity of his hand that he wouldn't find any life there anymore. He kept searching for it anyway, holding onto the wish that he was wrong, but soon he was forced to admit what he didn't want to admit: his best friend – his _brother_ – was dead.

He cried, and the tears didn't stop even days after they were rescued. His father had scolded him a few times when he was younger for crying, saying that only the weak cries, but the loss of both his mother and his closest friend tore him apart so much that he had no choice but to be weak. Burying the only people that mattered to him destroyed him.

However, once the tears stopped, they never came back. The night of Franklin's funeral, he realized how animalistic people truly were. They were destructive in essence. They would crush anything and everything that didn't fit into their food chain.

Elimination is the game of the living, and he resolved then that he was going to be a better player than all of them would ever be.

So he devised, just like his father and those men had shown him how to. He came back to his father's company, playing the part of his little pet son while secretly wheedling his way into power. When the old man got sick, he outdid his new stepmother in feigning affection for him. When the old man died, it was only to his greatest content to watch his family's fortune land rightfully into his hands while the woman who caused his mother so much grief got nothing.

Later on, he found Douglas despite the rumor of an apparent death following his expulsion from Davenport Industries. Along with him was his research of bionics. It was just what he needed to throw off the balance in the playing field, so he made an offer he couldn't refuse. _Eighty million dollars for your research._

Douglas, who hadn't seen him in years, was taken aback when he saw the changes in him, both on the outside and the inside. _Victor. What happened to you?_

 _Krane. And the topic we're discussing here is your research,_ he said, undeterred. _Eighty million dollars, and if you need more, you can have more. Do we have a deal?_

Cautiously, Douglas asked, _Why are you so interested in it?_

He tried not to lose his temper. _Does it really matter?_

Douglas hesitated.

 _You have nothing now, Douglas. No money, no career. No place to go to. I'm offering you a new start._

 _What's in this for you?_

 _The benefits of everything. I want all the abilities._

 _All? It could kill you._

 _It won't be the first time someone tried,_ he said, thinking that at least that time he was giving consent. He smiled coldly. _Eighty million. Do we have a deal?_

Douglas was reluctant, but he agreed soon enough.

He wasn't surprised. His old friend had been taught to become greedy, just like he had been.

Krane sneered. Years of research. Millions of dollars spent. Numerous operations to make him powerful. And now he was as weak and pathetic as he was back then.

He reached into the pocket of his cloak and pulled out a picture. Though he couldn't see anything, he had memorized what was shown. The picture causing his anger to return, he dropped it and proceeded to continue pounding on the steel door, leaving the photograph on the floor of the dark room.

If one could see it, it showed Krane and Franklin at the old bar. It was the last day everything was truly normal.

 _The soft click of the camera confirmed the picture was ready. Franklin looked at the picture on the screen then smiled. "Yep, that's a keeper."_

 _Krane smiled after they both took a swig of their drinks. He then suddenly grew a little sad. "Not the same without Douglas though, is it?"_

 _Franklin groaned. "Come on, man. We spent half the summer being sad about Douglas. We need to chill out; he's with his brother. It's not like he's going to die." The two friends then laughed._

 _"Yeah, I guess you're right." Another swig. "So, how was that date with that girl last night?"_

 _"Really great, actually. She's smart, funny, and nice, and she really liked ol' Frank," Franklin smiled, pointing at himself._

 _"Then you forgot to add crazy." Krane laughed as Franklin gently punched him._

 _"Yeah, yeah. Only bummer of the night was when I walked her home." Krane looked confused, so Franklin elaborated. "Apparently, a friend of theirs just got back from overseas and lost partial control of his legs. He can still walk and stuff, but he'll need crutches the rest of his life."_

 _"Oh man, that sucks. Tell her I'm sorry," Krane said, looking sympathetic._

 _"Yeah, I will. She didn't really want to talk about it anyway. Only thing she said is that she wished there was some way he could regain control of his muscles."_

 _While Franklin stared at his drink a bit sadly, Krane sat up in alert. "Dude." Franklin looked over and saw Krane smiling like a maniac. "Dude."_

 _"What's wrong with you? You didn't have too much to drink already, did you?"_

 _"What if we can make something that allows motion for the paralyzed?"_

 _Franklin scoffed. "Yeah right. How would we ever build that?"_

 _"I don't know, man. Maybe like a video game. But, just imagine what we could do. We could give people back their lives."_

 _Franklin smiled. "I wish. But we're just two college students."_

 _"Correction: two college students with a science project due at the end of the year. This could be our project."_

 _"What about fixing that computer in my garage?" Krane just gave him a 'really?' look. "Fine, we'll work on it. But if this whole thing backfires on us, it's on you."_

 _Krane did a fist pump. "Yes! You won't regret this. Now you really have to thank your girlfriend."_

 _Franklin chuckled. "First off, she's not my girlfriend yet. And secondly, she has a name. It's Tasha, Tasha Dooley."_

* * *

 ** _AlienGhostWizard14's notes:_** _Thanks to everyone who read. I hope you enjoy the next story._

 ** _musicnotes093's notes:_** _Yep._ _Hopefully the sequel will be up in a few weeks' time. Until then, enjoy the weekend and the warm-ish weather, guys!_


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